100,000 killed since start of Syria conflict - monitoring group

BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 100,000 people have been killed since the start of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, now the longest and most violent of the recent Arab uprisings, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, said the figure included 18,000 rebel fighters and about 40,000 soldiers and pro-Assad militiamen. But the true number of combatants killed was likely double that due to both sides' secrecy in reporting casualties, it said.