UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The people of Syria are losing hope in the fifth year of a civil war that has brought levels of death and destruction that are so extreme they should shock the world's collective conscience, the United Nations chief said in a report on Syria.
The war has killed more than 220,000 people and left a third of the population homeless. Of the country's roughly 23 million people, some 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian aid, including 5 million children, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his monthly report published on Wednesday.