Syrian civil war: 82,000 killed, 12,500 missing, says rights group

Jerusalem: At least 82,000 people have been killed and 12,500 others are missing after two years of civil war in Syria, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

According to the monitoring group, most of the dead were killed by troops and militia loyal to President Bashar Assad and most of the missing are believed to have been detained by the government`s secret police and other loyalists, reports the Jerusalem Post. Rami Abdulrahman, the Observatory`s president, said that killings in unofficial jails are commonplace, and the conditions under which prisoners are held are horrific. The Observatory, established by Abdulrahman in Britain seven years ago, said 4,788 children were among the 34,473 civilians killed. Another 12,916 anti-Assad fighters were killed, along with 1,924 army deserters, it said. On the loyalist side, 16,729 troops and 12,000 militiamen and informers have been killed. The report said the fate of around 2,500 loyalist troops, believed to be held by rebels, is unknown. Abdulrahman said the figures they have are the documented killings, adding that they estimate the total number of people killed since the revolt to have surpassed 120,000. (ANI)