Posts Tagged ‘death toll in Syria’

Report by UN puts death toll in Syria at 60,000

Syrian civil war

Newscast Media DAMASCUS—According to UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, at least 60,000 people have died in Syria since the start of the 21-month civil war in March 2011. Pillay said the figure was “truly shocking.”

Five months of analysis have led UN-backed researchers at Benetech, a non-profit technology firm, to conclude that 59,648 individuals have been killed in Syria between the start of the rebellion on March 15, 2011, and November 30, 2012.

“Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013,” Pillay said. “The number of casualties is much higher than we expected and is truly shocking.”

This is the first estimate from the United Nations since May, when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the death toll stood at around 10,000.

The study also reflected an increase in the monthly death tolls, which had averaged about 1,000 per month in the summer of 2011 and soared to more than 5,000 per month, on average, since July 2012.

Source: Radio Deutsche Welle

http://newscastmedia.com/casualties-syria.htm