UN says 3,500 dead so far in Syria uprising

The death toll in the Syrian uprising has soared to at least 3,500 people, the United Nations has said, a sobering measure of the scope of a military crackdown that has bloodied city after city but failed to crush the 8-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Under the strain of daily killings, some Syrians see a dangerous fracturing of society as long-festering resentments over religion, sectarian identity and poverty bubble to the surface. (AP)