The United Nations declared Thursday that Syria was in a state of civil war, as the death toll from nearly nine months of bloodshed rose to more than 4,000 people and more soldiers were reported to have defected from the army to join the uprising against President Bashar Assad.
The comments by the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, came as the opposition group Local Coordination Committees said security forces killed at least 24 people across the country Thursday.
“We are placing the figure at 4,000, but the information coming to us is that it’s much more,” Pillay said of the death toll at a news conference in Geneva. “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.”
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.
On Thursday, the European Union imposed economic sanctions against 12 Syrian individuals and 11 companies. The U.S. announced sanctions as well against a top Syrian general and an uncle of Assad, whom the Treasury Department described as a significant financial adviser to the president.
