BICOM

The United Nations Refugee Agency believes that at least 270,000 people have fled their homes in southern Syria since the Syrian military launched their offensive against rebel-held areas.

For the last two weeks, the regime and its allies have carried out airstrikes and barrel bombings, primarily directed against rebels in the Daraa area, causing thousands of Syrians to flee to the Jordanian and Israeli borders, both of which remain closed.

Mohammad Hawari, the spokesman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Amman, Jordan said: “We were expecting the number of displaced in southern Syria to reach 200,000, but it has already exceeded 270,000 people in record time.”

The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported yesterday that a number of rebel-held villages in southern Syria had come under regime control after Russian-brokered deals and that regime forces now control 60 per cent of the province. They also said that more than 130 civilians have been killed in the area since the offensive began.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will travel to Moscow today to discuss the situation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and “take us more steps forward to contain this crisis and prevent more destruction”. Safadi said the talks would focus on reaching a ceasefire and halting the displacement. He said “it is in nobody’s interest to have Syrians depart their country”.

A “de-escalation” agreement between the US, Russia and Jordan led to relative quiet in the areas for almost a year but on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will continue to defend our borders. We will extend humanitarian assistance to the extent of our abilities.”

The Daraa region is where the first protests against the Assad regime began in 2011.