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Syrian government forces are responsible for killing nearly 600 doctors and medical workers during the four-year war, Physicians for Human Rights said Wednesday, calling the attacks a crime against humanity, AFP reported.

The New York-based rights group accused President Bashar Assad's forces of "systematically" targeting hospitals, clinics and medical personnel since the conflict began in 2011.

Over the past four years, a total of 610 medical personnel were killed, 139 of whom were tortured or executed, according to the report.

The Assad regime is responsible for 97 percent of medical personnel killings, it said.

The report also documented 233 attacks on 183 hospitals and clinics, most recently with the use of deadly barrel bombs.

"The Syrian government has resorted to every tactic: emergency-room arrests, hospital bombings - including barrel bombs - and even the torture and execution of doctors who attempt to treat the wounded and sick," said Erin Gallagher, director of investigations for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).