LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which began peacefully in March of last year as peaceful protests, has since plunged the nation into civil war since rebels took up arms against a security force crackdown.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman reports that 30,716 people have been killed. The vast majority of the casualties, at least 21,534, have been civilians. A network of activists based around Syria have not divided their civilian death count between unarmed residents and those who have joined the rebels.

The pro-opposition Observatory says that 7,322 soldiers fighting for Assad were killed, while at least 1,860 army defectors have died fighting for the opposition.

"By looking through our figures, we noticed that the toll has been rising. Between 50 and 60 percent of those killed died in the past five months," Abdulrahman said.

Official figures from Syrian authorities have said that more than 2,600 members of the security forces have been killed, but have not given a casualty figure for several months.

In spite of the growing death toll, international powers are stuck in a diplomatic stalemate. Western powers and Gulf Arab states back the opposition, while Russia, China and Iran are backing Assad.

The violence rose rapidly in recent months as rebel forces spread, taking the fight across the country and into Syria's two major cities, the capital Damascus and business hub Aleppo.

Assad claims that his opponents are "terrorists" backed by foreign powers and has responded with heavy bombardment, including the use of fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

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