Syrian Observatory puts death toll at 59, 548 in 2 year crisis

A broad based opposition group stated Monday that it had documented the deaths of 59,548 Syrians since the eruption of the crisis two years ago.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll includes civilians, rebels and government troops.The number of the killed civilians is 29,767 people, some 4,264 of whom were children and 2,579 women, the Observatory said, adding that the toll include 10,623 rebel fighters, 1,783 defectors and 14,752 regular soldiers.It added that 1,886 deaths of unidentified people were documented by individual photos and videos, adding that there is also as many as 1,086 deaths of unidentified rebel fighters.The activists' detailed death toll came as the UN placed the number of those killed over the past couple of years at 70,000.The number will probably increase with the conflict keeps dragging on with no solution in sight.Meanwhile, Syria's state media said that a child and a man were killed and several others wounded Monday when armed groups went on a shooting spree at a passenger bus in southern Syria.The "terrorists" have attacked the bus transporting passengers from al-Sweidah province in southern Syria to the capital Damascus, the state-run SANA news agency said.The rebels in Syria have enmity toward Swaida province which is dominated by Druze minority and known of its people support to the administration of President Bashar al-Assad.Last week, an entire passenger bus, carrying mostly kids and women, was hijacked by gunmen before reaching the province, which is adjacent to the troublesome province of Daraa.Meanwhile, an improvised explosive device attached to a car exploded at al-Fahameh area in Damascus, wounding two people and damaging the car, SANA said.In the central province of Homs, the army repelled an attack by an armed group against a military checkpoint at al-Quseir area in the outskirts of the province, causing many casualties and destroying their vehicles, said SANA.Another attack has been repelled by the army at al-Harra al- Sharqiya area in Palmyra, SANA said, adding that the army caused many casualties among the rebels.Activists also reported clashes and shelling across the country 's hotspots.