Updated

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says well over 8,000 people have died in Syria over the past year due to the government's violent repression of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

The U.N. chief raised the death toll from 7,500 in a statement Thursday marking the first anniversary of the uprising.

Ban said the "brutal repression" by Syrian authorities is continuing unabated and called the status quo "indefensible."

Ban urged the government and opposition to cooperate with international envoy Kofi Annan to stop the bloodshed and find a political solution.

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