UN: Syrian civil war increasingly sectarian

By Slobodan Lekic

Published December 20, 2012 11:28am ET

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UN: Syrian civil war increasingly sectarian — In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebels attend a training session in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria.The new Syrian rebel chief, a defected army general who spent months in exile, says he has begun operating inside Syria to unite autonomous anti-regime militias for what he hopes will be the final push against President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) | Muhammed Muheisen

BRUSSELS (AP) — Syria’s civil war is increasingly turning into a sectarian conflict pitting majority Sunni rebels against government forces supported by the country’s religious and ethnic minorities, a new U.N. human rights report said Thursday.

Sergio Pinheiro, who heads an independent commission investigating abuses, said the bulk of the victims of the nearly two-year war were civilians, and blamed both sides for abuses including torture and illegal executions.

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