BEIRUT (AP) - More than 100,000 people have been killed since the start of the Syrian conflict over two years ago, an activist group said Wednesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the death toll in the conflict through a network of activists in Syria, released its death toll at a time when hopes for a negotiated settlement to end the civil war are fading.
It said it had tallied a total of 100,191 deaths over the 27 months of the conflict, but Observatory chief Rami Abdul-Rahman said he expected the real number was higher as neither side was totally forthcoming about its losses.
Of the dead, 36,661 are civilians, the group said.
On the government side, 25,407 are members of President Bashar Assad's armed forces, 17,311 are pro-government fighters and 169 are militants from Lebanon's Hezbollah, who have fought alongside army troops.
Deaths among Assad's opponents included 13,539 rebels, 2,015 army defectors and 2,518 foreign fighters battling against the regime.
Entry of the foreign media into Syria is severely restricted and few reports from the fighting can be independently verified.
The total amount of dead in the
Israeli-Palestinians conflict since 1948 is
less than 15,000, and yet it's the biggest travesty on this planet to many. What gives?
Earlier this week, sectarian tensions drew Lebanon's weak army into the fray. Eighteen soldiers were killed in a two-day battle between the army and supporters of a radical Sunni sheik in the southern city of Sidon. The army had earlier reported 17 deaths and said Wednesday that another soldier died of his wounds in a hospital.
The conflict reached the capital Beirut on Wednesday when masked men ambushed a bus and attacked the approximately 30 people aboard with knives, a Lebanese official said. He said 10 people were wounded in the attack in the eastern part of the city, including five Syrians, two Palestinians and three Lebanese, the officials said. He spoke anonymously in line with regulations.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the bus was carrying Syrians headed to a TV studio in the eastern Sunday Market district to take part in a cultural program. It said there were eight attackers, who fled the area.
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Have you noticed how the "international community" is silent about Palestinians being knifed? What gives?
