DHAKA: More than 73,000 people were killed in Syria in 2013, the bloodiest year yet in the brutal civil war that began in March 2011.

A non-governmental organisation said on Wednesday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.

The tally from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights came as renewed regime air strikes in the northern city of Aleppo killed at least five people.

The group said it considered the international community ‘a partner in the shedding of the blood of the Syrian people’ because it had failed to take ‘serious action’ to stop the war.

The Britain-based group said it had documented the deaths of 73,455 people between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, including 22,436 civilians.

BDST: 1454 HRS, JAN 02, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor