Lights go out as Syria war drags on

Over the four years that researcher Xi Li has watched Syria’s civil war unfold through nighttime satellite imagery, he has seen the pinpricks of light that dotted the north and east fade and the Mediterranean coast darken until 83% of the country’s lights have gone out.

From a vantage point that few people have seen, Li has produced a chilling measurement of a crisis that shows no sign of ending.

As the civil war moves into its fifth year, a global coalition of dozens of human rights and humanitarian groups released Li’s analysis and demanded a comprehensive effort to get aid to millions of Syrians.