September has been the deadliest month in Syria’s civil war so far this year according the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). More than 3,300 people are said to have died in September, including 995 civilians. Of those civilian deaths, it is said about 70% were caused by Russian, Syrian government, or coalition air strikes.
Meanwhile in Erbil, the High Referendum Council that lobbied for the independence vote concluded its work following a meeting headed by President Masoud Barzani on Sunday and was replaced by the Political Leadership of Kurdistan – Iraq. The group was created for the post-referendum work, notably negotiations with Baghdad. The Leadership group yesterday also welcomed Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s call for dialogue.
Lastly, despite yesterday’s violence during the controversial Catalonia referendum on independence, Spanish football giant Barcelona played against Las Palmas at the local stadium behind closed doors after Las Palmas refused to postpone the match. Violence erupted between law enforcement and demonstrators in Barcelona yesterday as the Spanish government called for the vote to be cancelled. Some 800 people were injured in the clashes.
