Syria: Deadliest week as 1,600 die

Published on 03/09/2012 00:00

At least 1,600 people were killed last week in Syria in the deadliest seven days since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, the UN children’s fund Unicef has said.

The civil war witnessed a major turning point in August when Mr Assad’s forces began widely using air power for the first time to crush the revolt. The fighting also reached Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, which had been relatively quiet for most of the 17-month-old revolt.

Last week, activists reported that between 300 and 600 people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Daraya during days of shelling and a killing spree by troops.

Over the past week, activists had been reporting daily death tolls for the entire country averaging 100-250.

Unicef spokesman Patrick McCormick was the source of the 1,600 figure and said it included some children. He did not immediately explain how he arrived at the figure.

Activists have been estimating for the past month a death toll of around 20,000 since the uprising began. But it did not take into account the deadly month of August, when the toll rose sharply.

BASSEM MROUE