Violence in Syria has escalated amid an absence of meaningful efforts to end the war. The government and its allies carried out deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Incommunicado detention and torture remain rampant. Armed groups opposing the government have attacked civilians, used child soldiers, kidnapped, and tortured. The extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS), and Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, were responsible targeting civilians, kidnappings, and executions. According to local Syrian groups, as of October 2015, the conflict’s death toll topped 250,000 people, including more than 100,000 civilians. About 7.6 million people are internally displaced, with 4.2 million refugees in neighboring countries.