×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

Syrian killing toll on the rise

ENOUGH: Syrians living in Jordan shout slogans during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in front of the Syrian Embassy in Amman last week. PHOTO: REUTERS
ENOUGH: Syrians living in Jordan shout slogans during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in front of the Syrian Embassy in Amman last week. PHOTO: REUTERS

AMMAN - More than 5000 people have been killed in nine months of unrest in Syria, the UN human rights chief said, as an insurgency began to overshadow what had initially been street protests against President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.

Navi Pillay reported the death toll to the Security Council as 1000 higher than the previous toll just 10 days ago. It includes civilians, army defectors and those executed for refusing to shoot civilians, but not soldiers or security personnel killed by opposition forces, she said.

The Syrian government has said more than 1100 members of the army, police and security services have been killed.

Syria's actions could constitute crimes against humanity, Pillay said, issuing a fresh call for the council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

The sharp rise in the death toll is bound to lend weight to those arguing for increased international intervention to stop the bloodshed.

Assad, 46, whose minority Alawite family has held power over majority Sunni Muslim Syria for four decades, faces the most serious challenge to his rule from the turmoil which erupted in March.

A violent security crackdown failed to halt the unrest - inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya - which turned bloodier in the last few months as defecting soldiers join armed civilians in fighting back in some areas.

In the latest violence around dawn yesterday, security forces shot dead 11 people and wounded 26 others in Idlib, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

State news agency SANA said border guards foiled an attempt by "an armed terrorist group" to cross into Syria from Turkey on Monday, the second such reported incident in a week.

Despite the spiralling violence, Syrian authorities held local elections on Monday as part of what they say is a reform process, but Assad's critics described the voting as irrelevant.

Monday was also the second day of the opposition's "Strike for Dignity", but its success was hard to gauge in some cities where violence has kept many residents in their homes.

Assad's government portrays the municipal polls as part of a process leading to a parliamentary election next year and constitutional reform. But critics say local elections have little meaning when power is highly centralised.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.