Torture and massacres: Syrian death toll nears 93,000
Nearly 93,000 people have been confirmed killed in the Syrian civil war, with the real number potentially much higher, the United Nations says.
Analysis from the UN’s human rights office said on Thursday that there have been 92,901 killings in the Syrian conflict, including at least 6,561 children.
Navi Pillay, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, said that there are also “well-documented cases” of children being tortured and executed, and whole families, including babies, being massacred.
“The constant flow of killings continues at shockingly high levels, with more than 5,000 killings documented every month since last July,” said Ms Pillay.
“This is most likely a minimum casualty figure. The true number of those killed is potentially much higher.”
Ms Pillay said along, along with the high death toll, reports of massacres and torture were “a terrible reminder of just how vicious this conflict has become.”
5,000 deaths a month
The figure was reached by analysing reports of 263,000 killings from eight sources – including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Syrian Revolution General Council, and the Syrian government. It covers the period from March 2011 until the end of April 2013.
The vast majority of the victims are male, but three-quarters of the reported killings do not indicate a person’s age, and the analysis could not differentiate between fighters and non-combatants.
Government forces are shelling and launching aerial attacks on urban areas day in and day out, and are also using strategic missiles and cluster and thermobaric bombs. Navi Pillay
The figures show a sharp escalation in killing in the latter half of 2012, with more than 5,000 people dying in the war, per month, since July 2012.
Most of the killings have been reported in the Rif Damascus governorate – the countryside area around the Syrian capital. Damascus is a bloody focal point for the Syrian civil war, with rebel groups and government forces battling daily for control of the city’s streets.
There are also reports of more than 15,000 deaths in Homs, one of the early central battlefields, were photojournalist Mani was embedded with rebel fighters.
More bloodshed?
Ms Pillay said: “Government forces are shelling and launching aerial attacks on urban areas day in and day out, and are also using strategic missiles and cluster and thermobaric bombs.
“Opposition forces have also shelled residential areas, albeit using less fire-power, and there have been multiple bombings resulting in casualties in the heart of cities, especially Damascus.”
Ms Pillay also warned that recent bloodshed, seen in the town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border, is set to be repeated as the government pushes into the rebel heartlands.
“I am concerned that what happened in Qusayr will happen in Aleppo,” she said. “All the reports I’m receiving are of augmentation of resources and forces on the part of the government.
“It’s hardly a scenario and a proper stage for negotiations at this stage. Would you begin negotiations with people who are intent on emerging as victors out of violent struggle?”
On Wednesday rebels clashed with the government’s Shia forces in the eastern village of Hatla (see video, above). Reports were that the majority of those killed in gun battles were pro-government militiamen. However, the government has criticised the attack as a “massacre of civilians”.
