CAIRO: United States top foreign policy official John Kerry said that his government would be doubling non-lethal aid to Syria in an effort to help end the violence in the country, which has spiraled out of control. At least 500 people were killed on Sunday, activists and human rights groups reported. The Secretary of State said that aid to opposition forces in Syria would rise to $250 million. He said, however, that the rebels' foreign backers were committed to continuing support and had decided to channel all future aid through the opposition Supreme Military Council. Kerry added that “there would have to be further announcements about the kind of support that might be in the days ahead” if Syrian government forces failed to pursue a peaceful solution. Speaking after a meeting of the Syrian opposition and its 11 main foreign supporters in Istanbul, Kerry said the United States would provide an additional $123 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, bringing the total of this kind of US help to $250 million. Activists and human rights organization have reported a staggering number of people killed in Syria on Sunday to be over 500 in total. It is yet another dark day in Syria, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in the ongoing violence that began with street protests two years ago. “The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 521 thus far, including tens of women and children: 474 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs most of them were killed in Jdaidet Artouz massacre; 19 in Idlib, among them 14 in Maghara village; 10 in Homs; 5 in Deir Ezzor; 5 in Hama; 5 in Aleppo; and 3 in Daraa," reported Local Coordination Committees in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday it was able to document the names of 80 people killed in Jdaydet al-Fadel, including women and children, and that the death toll might be much higher. BN
