New York, Dec 2 (ANI): The United Nations (UN) has declared that Syria is in a state of civil war, as the death toll has risen to over 4,000 people during the nine months of uprising against the Government of President Bashar al-Assad.
More soldiers have reportedly defected from the army to join the rebels.
The comments by the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, came as the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group, said security forces killed at least 24 people across the country on Thursday.
"We are placing the figure at 4,000, but the information coming to us is that it's much more. As soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms, I said this in August before the Security Council, that there's going to be a civil war. And at the moment that's how I am characterizing this," The New York Times quoted Pillay, as saying.
Her declaration came amid rising international pressure on Assad's government, with the Arab League, the European Union, Turkey and the United States all taking measures to further constrict the Syrian economy.
In past months, the Syrian pound has faltered, and the country's two major sources of revenue, tourism, and oil have been crippled by sanctions.
An independent commission of inquiry sponsored by the UN, which was not granted access to travel to Syria, said on Monday that Syrian forces had committed crimes against humanity, including the killing and torture of children. It said the security forces were taking orders from the highest levels of Assad's government. (ANI)
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