U.N.: Syrian civil war death toll tops 191,000

The death toll from three years of Syria’s civil war has risen to more than 191,000 people, the United Nations reported Friday. The figure, covering the period from March 2011 to April 2014, is the first issued by the U.N.’s human rights office since July 2013, when it documented more than 100,000 killed. The high death toll is a reflection of the brutality of Syria’s conflict, which has transformed into a complex, multi-layered war where various factions fight against each other.

It is probably an underestimate of the real total number of people killed…

Navi Pillay, the U.N.’s top human rights official

Men comprised 85 per cent of the victims, women more than 9 per cent, while the sex was unknown in the remaining cases. The records show at least 8,800 child victims, although the age of most victims is unknown. Russia has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main allies and has used its veto power four times at the 15-nation Security Council to prevent international sanctions on Syria.

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