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EU condemns deaths of many civilians in Syrian conflict

BRUSSELS, July 1 (KUNA) -- The European Union Friday condemned "in the strongest terms" the deaths of many civilians over more than a decade of conflict in Syria.
"These crimes were mostly perpetrated by the Syrian regime and its allies, including through the use of torture and other criminal methods," said EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, Nabila Massrali, in a statement. Quoting the report "Civilian Deaths in the Syrian Arab Republic" presented yesterday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, she noted that "every single day, for the past 10 years, 83 civilians died in Syria. This means that an estimated 306,887 civilians were killed as a direct result of the conflict in Syria between 2011 and 2021." The figures do not include indirect deaths, namely those resulting from loss of access to essential goods and services caused or aggravated by the conflict, noted the statement.
This is the first time that the OHCHR is able to report on civilian deaths resulting directly from the decade of conflict in Syria, highlighting the extent of the human suffering in Syria, said Massrali.
The statement emphasized that since the beginning of the conflict, the EU calls for accountability of those responsible for violating international humanitarian law.
The EU will continue to stand with the Syrian people and remains committed to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, it added. (end) nk.ibi