Syria death toll hits nearly 126,000 - monitoring group

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks up a stairs, among damage and debris, in Aleppo December 1, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The death toll in Syria's civil war has risen to at least 125,835, more than a third of them civilians, but the real figure is probably much higher, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

The pro-opposition monitoring group also appealed to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and "all people in the international community who have a conscience" to increase their efforts to end the 2-1/2 year war.