Photographs: Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in Syria's escalating civil war in the month of August, activists groups have claimed.
This is the highest figure ever reported in over 17 months of fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
...
August, Syria's 'bloodiest month'; 5,000 dead
Image: Smoke rises from a residential building at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes between Sunni Muslims and AlawitesPhotographs: Reuters
"The past month witnessed large massacres and the regime was conducting wide operations to try to crush the uprising," the New York Post quoted Omar Idilbi, a Cairo-based activist with the Local Coordination Committees group, as saying.
"Last month's acts of violence were unprecedented," Idilbi added.
August, Syria's 'bloodiest month'; 5,000 dead
Image: A Free Syrian Army fighter reacts after his friend was shot by Syrian Army soldiers during clashes in Salah al-Din neighbourhood in central AleppoPhotographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
According to the paper, the United Nations children's fund UNICEF put the death toll for last week alone at 1,600, the largest weekly figure for the entire uprising.
The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 5,440 people, including 4,114 civilians were killed in August.
August, Syria's 'bloodiest month'; 5,000 dead
Image: Tyres set on fire by demonstrators block a road during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Jubar near DamascusPhotographs: Shaam News Network/Reuters
According to the report, the LCC put the toll at 4,933 civilians.
The two main activists groups also released new death tolls for the entire uprising since March 2011.
August, Syria's 'bloodiest month'; 5,000 dead
Image: A Syrian boy rides a bicycle as smoke rises over the Syrian city of Aleppo after missiles fired from a fighter jet hit petrol tankers in the Bab al-Nayrab districtPhotographs: Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
The Observatory said over 26,000 have been killed, including more than 18,500 civilians. The LCC put the death toll at more than 23,000 civilians.
August, Syria's 'bloodiest month'; 5,000 dead
Image: A Free Syrian Army fighter screams in pain after he was injured in his leg by shrapnel from a shell fired from a Syrian Army tank in the Salaheddine neighbourhood of central AleppoPhotographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
According to the paper, Syria's uprising has been the bloodiest in the Arab Spring that has already removed long-serving authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya.
article