120,000 SYRIANS FLEE LATEST FIGHTING IN SOUTHWEST BORDER AREA
BEIRUT— More than 120,000 people have been forced to flee in southwestern Syria since the government launched an offensive to recover the area, a war monitor said on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said tens of thousands had gathered at Syria’s border with Jordan while thousands more had fled to the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said civilians had now mostly left the eastern part of Deraa province, where government forces have been advancing. Some people had also crossed into government-held areas, he said.
Latest attacks
The group announced their data a day after a barrage of Russian strikes on rebel-held towns in southern Syria killed at least 25 civilians.
With Russia’s help, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army has battered the south for more than a week with air strikes, rocket fire and crude barrel bombs.
The bombardment has forced more than 45,000 people to flee in search of safety, according to the United Nations, while others huddle in their basements to wait out the raids.
25 dead
Dozens of air strikes identified as Russian killed 25 civilians on Thursday, mostly in the town of Al-Mseifra, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“This is the highest toll since the escalation began on June 19,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, adding the bombardment was intensifying and also targeting densely populated areas.
Overall toll
The overall civilian toll has risen to 96 killed since the escalation began on June 19, according to the monitor.
The government offensive has already forced five hospitals to close in the past week, including three in the past 48 hours, the Observatory said.
Syria has become infamous for attacks on health workers, with more facilities hit so far this year than in all of 2017.
At the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Britain, France and the United States condemned Russia’s role in the offensive.
French ambassador Francois Delattre called on “everyone, starting with Russia, to uphold their commitments so that this offensive ceases immediately.”
Mass displacement
Adopting a divide-and-conquer strategy that served them well across Syria, troops have already lopped off the northeastern arm of the rebel horseshoe.
Thursday’s strikes were focused on Daraa’s east, with White Helmets rescuers saying dozens of raids hit the towns of Busra al-Sham and Herak.
The Observatory said raids were increasingly targeting urban areas.
“The shelling is aimed at cutting off all means of life and to push people out en masse,” said analyst Ahmad Abazeid, himself a native of Daraa.