US kills ‘senior leader’ of al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria
Al JazeeraDec 29, 2021
The Facts
The UN Human Rights Office on Tues. released a report that found that 306,887 civilians have been killed in Syria since March 2011, representing about 1.5% of the country's pre-war population.
The report, based on eight sources of information covering the first 10 years of the Syrian conflict between March 1, 2011 to March 31, 2021, doesn't include non-civilian casualties or civilians who died indirectly due to war-related factors.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
It's Bashar al-Assad who started the brutal civil war in Syria. The Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian allies, with their missiles, barrel bombs, and chemical weapons, are the ones overwhelmingly responsible for the countless civilians killed in Syria over the past 11 years. Syrians are well aware of this truth, and it's time for Damascus to be held accountable for its crimes against humanity.
Establishment-critical narrative
Though often referred to as a civil war, the conflict in Syria developed into a full-blown proxy war soon after the protests against the government began in 2011, with the US playing a disastrous role. The still-ongoing conflict, with its countless innocent victims, is largely a consequence of US meddling, as they aim to bring about regime change in Syria as part of their remaking of the Middle East.