ARAB NEWS
Thursday 3 January 2013
AMMAN: More than 60,000 people have died in the Syrian uprising and civil war, the UN said yesterday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending.
Dozens were killed in a Damascus suburb when a government air strike turned a petrol station into an inferno, incinerating drivers who had rushed there for a rare chance to fill their tanks, activists told Reuters.
“I counted at least 30 bodies. They were either burnt or dismembered,” said Abu Saeed, an activist who arrived at the area an hour after the raid occurred at 1100 GMT in Muleiha, a suburb on the eastern edge of the capital.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said in Geneva that researchers cross-referencing seven sources over five months of analysis had listed 59,648 people killed in Syria between March 15, 2011 and Nov. 30, 2012.
“The number of casualties is much higher than we expected and is truly shocking,” she said.
“Given that 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.”
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Syria, United Nations
It might surprise the casual reader that the UN Organization is staffed by human beings, just like you and me. And most of them are there because they could not find a better job. Consequently the figures they produce are often no better than figures produced by anyone else. – Anyway, in this case it does not matter. 30’000, 40’000, 50’000, 60’000 – any number is horrible and is too high.
May Allah protect our Syrian brothers and sisters!