United Nations, March 13 (RHC)-- The United Nations has found that 2018 was the deadliest year yet for Syrian children since the start of the conflict in 2011.  UNICEF says that fighting caused over 1,100 verifiable child deaths, but that the actual toll was likely much higher. 

UNICEF’s executive director warned in a statement: “Today, there exists an alarming misconception that the conflict in Syria is drawing quickly to a close -- it is not.”   Fifty-nine children have been reported killed in Idlib in recent weeks, and another 60 have died as they made their way to a camp in northeastern Syria. 

The dire warning from the U.N. comes as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say they are fighting the final territorial enclave of the Islamic State in the town of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.