EU imposes sanctions on 18 more senior Syrian officials

By Hasan Esen

BRUSSELS

EU foreign ministers in Brussels have decided to impose sanctions on 18 more senior Syrian officials, the European Council announced on Monday.

According to written statement on the council's website, 17 state ministers and the governor of the Central Bank of Syria had been added to the list "for being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, benefiting from or supporting the regime, and/or being associated with such persons."

The restrictions include travel bans and assets freeze, the council said.

The decision brings to 234 the total number of persons subjected to such travel bans and assets freeze, the statement added.

Syria has been wrecked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.