Syria's war killed 76,021 in 2014 - monitor

Pictures of war victims are displayed with weapons and candles during a new year event in Salah al-Din neighbourhood in central Aleppo December 31, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The conflict in Syria killed 76,021 people in 2014, just under half of them civilians, a group monitoring the war said on Thursday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 33,278 civilians were killed last year in the conflict, which started with protests in 2011 and has spiralled into a civil war.

The United Nations in August estimated the total number of people killed since the start of the conflict at 191,000 but activists say the actual figure is likely much higher.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)