The United Nations gave a grim new count Wednesdayof the human cost of Syria's civil war, saying the death toll has exceeded60,000 in 21 months — far higher than recent estimates by anti-regimeactivists.
The day's events illustrated the escalating violence thathas made recent months the deadliest of the conflict: As rebels pressed astrategy of attacking airports and pushing the fight closer to President BasharAssad's stronghold in Damascus, the government responded with deadly airstrikeson restive areas around the capital.
A missile from a fighter jet hit a gas station in the suburbof Mleiha, killing or wounding dozens of people who were trapped in burningpiles of debris, activists said.
Gruesome online video showed incinerated victims — one stillsitting astride a motorcycle — or bodies torn apart.
"He's burning! The guy is burning!" an off-cameravoice screamed in one video over a flaming corpse.
It was unclear if the government had a military strategy forattacking the gas station. At least one of the wounded wore a military-stylevest often used by rebel fighters. Human rights groups and anti-regimeactivists say Assad's forces often make little effort to avoid civiliancasualties when bombing rebel areas.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with protests callingfor political change but has evolved into a full-scale civil war.
As the rebels have grown more organized and effective,seizing territory in the north and establishing footholds around Damascus, thegovernment has stepped up its use of airpower, launching daily airstrikes. Theescalating violence has sent the death toll soaring.
The U.N.'s new count of more than 60,000 deaths since thestart of the conflict is a third higher than recent estimates by anti-regimeactivists. One group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,says more than 45,000 people have been killed. Other groups have given similartolls.
"The number of casualties is much higher than weexpected, and is truly shocking," U.N. High Commissioner for Human RightsNavi Pillay said in a statement.
She criticized the government for inflaming the conflict bycracking down on peaceful protests and said rebel groups, too, have killedunjustifiably. Acts by both sides could be considered war crimes, she said.
She also faulted world powers for not finding a way to stopthe violence.
"The failure of the international community, inparticular the Security Council, to take concrete actions to stop thebloodletting shames us all," Pillay said. "Collectively, we havefiddled at the edges while Syria burns."
The U.S. and many European and Arab nations have demandedthat Assad step down, while Russia, China and Iran have criticized calls forregime change.
The new death toll was compiled by independent expertscommissioned by the U.N. human rights office who compared 147,349 killingsreported by seven different sources, including the Syrian government.
After removing duplicates, they had a list of 59,648individuals killed between the start of the uprising on March 15, 2011, andNov. 30, 2012. In each case, the victim's first and last name and the date andlocation of death were known. Killings in December pushed the number past 60,000,she said.
The total death toll is likely to be even higher becauseincomplete reports were excluded, and some killing may not have been documentedat all.
"There are many names not on the list for people whowere quietly shot in the woods," Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville toldThe Associated Press.
The data did not distinguish among soldiers, rebels orcivilians.
It indicated that the pace of killing has accelerated.Monthly death tolls in summer 2011 were around 1,000. A year later, they hadreached about 5,000 per month.
Most of the killings were in the province of Homs, followedby the Damascus suburbs, Idlib, Aleppo, Daraa and Hama. At least three-fourthsof the victims were male.
Pillay warned that thousands more could die or be injured,and she said the danger could continue even after the war.
"We must not compound the existing disaster by failingto prepare for the inevitable — and very dangerous — instability that willoccur when the conflict ends," she said.
The U.N. refugee agency said about 84,000 people fled Syriain December alone, bringing the total number of refugees to about ahalf-million. Many more are displaced inside Syria.
While no one expects the war to end soon, internationalsanctions and rebel advances are eroding Assad's power. Rebels recently havetargeted two pillars of his strength: his control of the skies and his grip onDamascus.
Rebels in northern Syria attacked a government helicopterbase near the village of Taftanaz in Idlib province, activists said. Videosposted online showed them blasting targets inside the airport with heavymachine guns mounted on trucks.
All videos appeared genuine and corresponded with other APreporting on the events.
In recent weeks, rebels have attacked three other airportsin north Syria. They clashed Wednesday with forces inside the Mannagh militaryairport near the Turkish border as well as near the Aleppo internationalairport and adjacent Nerab military airport, halting air traffic there for thesecond straight day.
The fall of those airports to the rebels would embarrass theregime but not fully stop the airstrikes by government jets, many of which comefrom bases farther south.
In another blow to the regime and to Syria's economy, acompany based in the Philippines that handled shipping containers at Syria'slargest port said it was canceling its contract, citing an "untenable,hostile and dangerous business environment."
The Manila-based International Container Terminal ServicesInc. said the amount of port traffic had gone down, hurting business, whileconditions in Syria grew more dangerous.
The company's departure will significantly limit cargoservices at the Tartus port.
Also, Wednesday, the family of American journalist JamesFoley revealed that he has been missing in Syria for more than a month. Foleywas providing video for Agence France-Press when he was abducted Nov. 22 byunknown gunmen, his family said in a statement.
"His captors, whoever they may be, must release himimmediately," said AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog.
Covering Syria has been a challenge for journalists. Thegovernment rarely gives visas to journalists, prompting some to sneak in withthe rebels, often at great danger.