Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Casualties among loyalists to Syrian President Bashar Assad
have been running four times higher than Sunni rebels, an opposition group
said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 11,000 were killed during the Sunni revolt against Assad, which began in March 2011. The London-based opposition group said the vast majority of the 11,117 casualties were civilians.

The opposition report was released as the Assad regime declared victory over the rebels. Damascus has claimed that all rebel strongholds were destroyed, including those in Damascus, Homs and Idlib.

In contrast, Syrian Observatory asserted that the Syrian military and
security forces were struggling to maintain control over major cities. The
group said heavy fighting continued in Homs and Idlib.

In a report on April 16, the group said 7,972 civilians were killed by
Assad forces. Syrian Observatory said 3,145 military personnel, including fewer than 600 Sunni rebels, also died in the fighting.

Figures by Syrian Observatory have generally been confirmed by the
United Nations and Western diplomats. The report indicated that the casualty count among Assad forces was four times that of the rebels.

  almost eight thousand civilians killed by Assad forces, Bashar Assad, heavy fighting in Homs and Idlib, Opposition: Assad regime struggling to maintain control, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights