UNICEF: 5000 killed in Syria in August

At least 1,600 people were killed in Syria last week, making it the deadliest week yet in the civil war, a spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Patrick McCormick said Sunday. McCormick said the toll included children, as the government of Bashar al-Assad fights to suppress an 18-month uprising against its rule. Nearly 5,000 people died in August, according to the Center of Documentation of Violation in Syria, which put the toll for the month at 4,937. And there appeared to be no letup in the violence on Sunday, with opposition sources saying at least 144 people were killed across the country.