UNITED NATIONS — Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country’s civil war, more than three times the U.N. estimate, says a new report that offers a graphic account of deaths in areas the world has struggled for years to reach.
The report says Syria’s government is responsible for the overwhelming amount of siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care. The document does not look at what it calls the short-term siege tactics used by the Islamic State, which has beheaded and massacred its opponents.
The “Slow Death” report is by the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports medical workers in besieged areas. The organization presented its findings Thursday to U.N. officials and to a meeting sponsored by the U.S., Britain, France and others and organized by Qatar. The United Nations estimated 212,000 Syrians live in besieged areas. The new report says more than 640,200 are besieged.
