At least two people have been killed and 317 others shot and wounded during celebrations in Syria marking the re-election of President Bashar al-Assad for a fourth term, a war observer reported on Saturday.
The victims were caused by gunfire fired at random by al-Assad loyalists in several areas, including the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.
The two people who died were a young man and a child in Aleppo, the British observatory said.
Al-Assad was re-elected for a fourth seven-year term with 95.1% of the vote in elections in government-held areas and dismissed by the opposition as a sham.
Three candidates, including al-Assad, came to the polls on Wednesday, the second presidential election in Syria since the country’s civil war began in 2011.
The election was condemned as fraudulent by the Syrian opposition as well as by countries such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Al-Assad won 88.7% of the vote in the 2014 election, the first in Syria with multiple candidates.
With the help of Iran and Russia, al-Assad has regained control of over 60% of the country.
The rebels still hold parts of northern and northwestern Syria, while the Kurds dominate areas in the northeast.
Al-Assad, 55, has ruled Syria since 2000, his father, Hafez, ruled Syria from 1971 to 2000
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