NOVANEWS
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A man tries runs carrying a baby as war-torn Syria enters its fifth year of conflict
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that since March 2011 it had recorded 215,518 deaths directly resulting from the bloody civil war.
As the Syrian conflict enters its fifth year, more than 215,000 have died in the violence, a human rights group revealed Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, reported that since March 2011 it had recorded 215,518 deaths directly resulting from the horrific civil war, 66,000 of which were civilians.
In the past five weeks alone, around 5,000 were killed.
Up to 11,000 children were included among the victims, as attacks have targeted schools and hospitals indiscriminately.
Out of the non-civilians killed, government forces have suffered highest losses, with 46,138 killed. The same Observatory also reports that about 13,000 detainees have been tortured to death inside Syrian jails.
The death toll “is certainly higher than the more than 215,000 we have recorded because of the large number of missing people whose fate is unknown,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
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The conflict is complicated, with as many four different sides involved, including government forces, pro-government militias, violent extremists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, and other anti-Assad rebels.
There has been widespread foreign intervention too. Last week, The U.S. government announced it will provide the Syrian opposition with US$70 million in “non-lethal” assistance.
The U.S government clarified once again that their support for the rebels is consistent with the U.S. long-term objectives.
“As we have long said, Assad must go and be replaced through a negotiated political transition that is representative of the Syrian people,” said a White House spokesperson, referring to Washington’s commitment to oust Syrian Bashar Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, reported that since March 2011 it had recorded 215,518 deaths directly resulting from the horrific civil war, 66,000 of which were civilians.
In the past five weeks alone, around 5,000 were killed.
Up to 11,000 children were included among the victims, as attacks have targeted schools and hospitals indiscriminately.
Out of the non-civilians killed, government forces have suffered highest losses, with 46,138 killed. The same Observatory also reports that about 13,000 detainees have been tortured to death inside Syrian jails.
The death toll “is certainly higher than the more than 215,000 we have recorded because of the large number of missing people whose fate is unknown,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
RELATED: The IS Shock, the ‘New Cold War,’ and the Unmentionable History of US Empire
The conflict is complicated, with as many four different sides involved, including government forces, pro-government militias, violent extremists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, and other anti-Assad rebels.
There has been widespread foreign intervention too. Last week, The U.S. government announced it will provide the Syrian opposition with US$70 million in “non-lethal” assistance.
The U.S government clarified once again that their support for the rebels is consistent with the U.S. long-term objectives.
“As we have long said, Assad must go and be replaced through a negotiated political transition that is representative of the Syrian people,” said a White House spokesperson, referring to Washington’s commitment to oust Syrian Bashar Assad.
