The United Nations on Feb. 28 said “well over 7,500 people” have been killed in Syria during an 11-month government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, raising its previous estimated death toll by nearly a third. UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs Lynn Pascoe told the UN Security Council that the firepower of the opposition forces appeared to be minimal compared to the heavy weapons being used by the Syrian army. “While we cannot give exact casualty figures there are credible reports that the death toll now often exceeds 100 civilians a day, including many women and children. The total killed so far is certainly well over 7,500 people,” Pascoe said.
The outside world has proved powerless to halt the killing in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection. Russia and China have twice used their vetoes to block any action by the UN Security Council. “Unfortunately the international community has also failed in its duty to stop the carnage and actions and inactions to date have seemed to encourage the regime in its belief that it has impunity to carry on wanton destruction of its own civilians,” Pascoe said.