Over 11,000 Children Killed During Four Years of Syrian Conflict - UNICEF

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative Hanna Singer said that the number of children who have died within four years of the conflict in Syria has exceeded 11,000.

GENEVA (Sputnik) — The number of children who have died within four years of the conflict in Syria has exceeded 11,000, a UNICEF representative in Syria told RIA Novosti Friday.

“Approximately, 11 thousand children have been killed in this war until now. I'm sure there will be many more,” Hanna Singer said, adding that a total of 7.6 million of Syrian children have become refugees.

According to Singer, one of the reasons why Syrian children are victims of the internal conflict in the country is the activities of the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists. That is why, she added, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is currently conducting negotiations with IS militants through its partners to stop the flagrant violation of children's rights in Syria.

“We work through local NGO's, through local government, people as well and through what you call the facilitators — people who live there and they do some extra work… But lately in Raqqa they have completely stopped all dealings with any programs within the UN,” Singer told RIA Novosti.

On Thursday, the UN agency said in a press release on its website that 14 million children are currently affected by conflicts sweeping Syria and Iraq. Moreover, about two million children living in remote Syrian towns or villages are cut off from humanitarian aid, according to the press release.

Syria has been embroiled in civil war since March 2011 with the Syrian Army fighting various insurgent groups, including Islamic State radicals. According to UN estimates, the internal conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 210,000 people.