Syria: Troops have ‘killed 1,000 people in last eight days’

CLAIMS that around 1,000 people have been killed by the Syrian government over the past eight days were made yesterday as violent clashes continued to erupt across the country.

The estimate of the death toll was made by the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), as a deadline for government troops to end their occupations of cities passed.

Under a UN-backed peace plan, the army was supposed to have completely withdrawn from conflict areas by yesterday, with a view to implementing a full-scale ceasefire tomorrow.

The extent of the human cost of the conflict was estimated by SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani, who claimed that 160 people were killed in Syria on Monday alone.

Ms Kodmani told reporters in Geneva that regime forces have used heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, against civilians in apparent defiance of an agreement to begin a ceasefire yesterday.

She said the humanitarian situation on the ground was “dramatically deteriorating” the day after President Assad’s forces were roundly condemned for firing on a refugee camp inside Turkey.

Activist groups said at least 18 people were killed yesterday as more reports of barbarous behaviour filtered through.

Shelling in the city of Homs, a centre of resistance to Mr Assad’s rule, was reported to have killed at least 14 people; while the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed in Kfar Zeita in central Hama province.

Military activity was also reported in Aleppo province in the north and Deraa in the south.

As the deadline slipped by, Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem claimed that some troops had pulled out.

Despite the missed deadline and the continued violence, the international envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan, claimed his peace plan was still “very much alive”.