Death toll in Syrian conflict over 146,000

The death toll in the Syrian uprising turned civil war is more than 146,000 with more than a third civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

According to the London based Observatory, which released the numbers to mark the third anniversary of the Syrian revolution, the exact number is 146,065. Its data is based on a network of Syrian sources inside the country.

Nearly 35,000 of the deaths were from the armed opposition, including members of Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Most foreign fighters are affiliated with these opposition groups.

The Observatory said that more than 56,000 of the deaths were regime forces and their supporters. This number included 332 Shiite Hezbollah members and 459 Shiites from other countries.

However, the Observatory said that this number is not precise because both sides attempt to conceal the real number of causalities. The real number may be over 60,000.

Reuters said that the latest UN figures, released in July 2013, showed that the death toll was at least 100,000. It also said it would stop updating the death toll as conditions on the ground made it impossible to make accurate estimates

Despite economic meltdown Al-Sisi buys 1,100 cars for army officers

Following his calls for austerity in the face of the meltdown of the Egyptian economy, coup leader Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has bought 1,100 Peugeot cars for army officers.

The Arab Development and Investment Company announced that its subsidiary Cairo for Development and Car Manufacturing-Peugeot has signed a contract with the Armed Forces to supply the vehicles, which have a total value of 103 million Egyptian Pounds. The details of the deal were reported in Al-Borsa economic magazine. Sources close to the Peugeot dealer said that the order will be delivered within days.

Meanwhile, Al-Sisi repeated his call for austerity measures during a meeting with young doctors last week. He advised students to walk to their universities every day to save the cost of transportation “for the sake of Egypt”.