atrocities

The World Council of Churches has urged the international community to find a way to break the cycle of violence in Syria. The statement comes two days after the USA, France and the UK carried out missile strikes following a suspected Syrian government chemical weapons attack.

A new Amnesty International report published today has exposed the "cold-blooded killing of thousands of defenceless prisoners" in a Syrian government jail where an estimated 13,000 people have been hanged in the past five years, and where mass hangings of up to 50 people at a time occur every week, sometimes twice a week.

The WCC has extended sympathies to those bereaved or wounded in Pershawar, offering prayers for the victims and their families, for their communities.

With Syria engulfed in an escalating and increasingly brutal civil war, a panel of United Nations human rights experts has issued its latest report on the crisis.