Activist group says Syrian death toll over 17,000

At least 17,129 people have been killed in Syria's 16-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The pro-opposition Observatory said at least 11,897 of them were "civilians" - but added it could not determine how many of those might have been fighters who had joined an insurgency led by army defectors. (Reuters)