Fewer civilians died in May than in any other month of Syria's seven-year war, a monitor said Friday, with less than 250 civilians killed across the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 244 civilians were killed last month, including 58 children and 33 women.
It was the "lowest monthly death toll for civilians since the start of the Syrian revolution" in 2011, the Britain-based monitor said.
It comes after government troops secured a string of areas around Damascus, including the former rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta in April as well as several towns to the capital's northeast and south. Those wins came with fierce bombing campaigns over several months that left hundreds dead and even more wounded, but ultimately ended in regime victory.
War fronts were relatively quiet in May, with the regime focused on ousting the Islamic State (IS) group from a pocket of southern Damascus.
But government bombardment was still behind the highest proportion of casualties, according to the Observatory.
Regime shelling and air strikes killed 77 civilians in May, it said, while 19 had died in air raids by regime ally Russia.
Thirty-nine civilians lost their lives in air strikes by the US-led coalition fighting IS, while two were executed by the jihadists.
All sides claim they do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties.
The Observatory recorded 395 civilians killed across Syria last April, while it counted 400 civilian deaths in April 2011, the first full month of the conflict.
Syria's war has killed a total of more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it started in mid-March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
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