On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the death toll from Syria’s civil war has now passed the 100,000 casualties mark. On average, five thousand people are dying a month due to the violence. Secretary-General Ban called for new efforts to end the two-and-half-year-long conflict before meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The same day the UN Secretary-General released the official figures, a car bomb exploded in Syria that killed seven and wounded 62.
The U.S. and Russia agreed earlier this year to press for another peace conference. Secretary of State Kerry said “there is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on both the Syrian government and opposition to return to peace talks, and to expel the extremists and terrorists in the country. Lavrov stated that a military intervention would not be the solution. Both the U.S. and Russia have provided small arms to different actors in the conflict.
Russia has held steadfast against any UN sanctions towards Syria. Moscow contends it is not in the UN Security Council’s purview to remove any government.
In Washington, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey recently warned against any U.S. military intervention in Syrian. He posited that any option that included kinetic operations would result in “unintended consequences.” He alluded to the experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq as examples that military intervention alone will not restore stability. “Once we take actions…deeper involvement is hard to avoid,” he cautioned.
The death toll numbers are only surpassed by the number of refugees fleeing the conflict. Almost 2 million people have registered with UN refugee camps adjacent to Syria. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said an average of six thousand people are a fleeing a day. Guterres also said that such a flow of refugees has not been seen the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
No official date for resuming the peace conference has been set. The Syrian government says participation should be without preconditions while the opposition has refused to attend if President Bashar Al-Assad’s departure is not on the table. The Syrian government claims that Assad will remain in power at least until his term expires in 2014. Further, the government says he will run again.
Photo: Freedom House (cc).
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Photo Friday: Death Toll in Syria Climbs Pass 100,000
July 26, 2013
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the death toll from Syria’s civil war has now passed the 100,000 casualties mark. On average, five thousand people are dying a month due to the violence. Secretary-General Ban called for new efforts to end the two-and-half-year-long conflict before meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The same day the UN Secretary-General released the official figures, a car bomb exploded in Syria that killed seven and wounded 62.
The U.S. and Russia agreed earlier this year to press for another peace conference. Secretary of State Kerry said “there is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on both the Syrian government and opposition to return to peace talks, and to expel the extremists and terrorists in the country. Lavrov stated that a military intervention would not be the solution. Both the U.S. and Russia have provided small arms to different actors in the conflict.
Russia has held steadfast against any UN sanctions towards Syria. Moscow contends it is not in the UN Security Council’s purview to remove any government.
In Washington, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey recently warned against any U.S. military intervention in Syrian. He posited that any option that included kinetic operations would result in “unintended consequences.” He alluded to the experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq as examples that military intervention alone will not restore stability. “Once we take actions…deeper involvement is hard to avoid,” he cautioned.
The death toll numbers are only surpassed by the number of refugees fleeing the conflict. Almost 2 million people have registered with UN refugee camps adjacent to Syria. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said an average of six thousand people are a fleeing a day. Guterres also said that such a flow of refugees has not been seen the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
No official date for resuming the peace conference has been set. The Syrian government says participation should be without preconditions while the opposition has refused to attend if President Bashar Al-Assad’s departure is not on the table. The Syrian government claims that Assad will remain in power at least until his term expires in 2014. Further, the government says he will run again.
Photo: Freedom House (cc).
