UNICEF: 400 Children Killed in Syrian Unrest
At least 400 children have been killed in 11 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
"As of the end of January, 400 children are dead and more than 400 have been detained," UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said at a briefing.
"There are reports of children arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sexually abused while in detention," the agency added in a statement.
Mercado said the figures for children killed came from Syrian human rights groups "that we find to be credible."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the escalating violence in Syria appalling and told the government Monday that the Security Council's disagreement over a resolution condemning the bloodshed was not a license to escalate attacks.
Ban called the mounting death toll, and especially the continued artillery shelling of civilian area in the city of Homs, "totally unacceptable before humanity," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
The U.N. chief expressed regret that Syrian authorities continue to ignore calls to stop using violence against civilians and urged "all concerned in Syria" and the international community to redouble efforts to try to stop the violence.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
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