GENEVA: The number of Syrians displaced within their homeland by the vicious civil war has reached 4.25 million, the UN humanitarian office said yesterday.
“Movement by internally displaced persons continues to be large-scale and fluid, as many Syrians are displaced multiple times,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Over the past months, the number has more than doubled, from an estimated two million to 4.25 million people,” he told reporters.
The figures — combined with more than 1.4 million Syrians who have fled abroad — mean that more than a quarter of Syria’s prewar population of 22.5 million have been forced to quit their homes since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
The highest concentration of internally-displaced Syrians is in the flashpoint northern city of Aleppo, where the figure is 1.25 million, followed by the rural area around the capital Damascus, with 705,200, Laerke said.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s prime minister has denounced Israeli airstrikes on Syria, saying the attacks help strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad’s hand.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday also criticized Iran for “turning a blind eye” to massacres in Syria and accused the international community of ignoring the bloodshed.
Erdogan said the Israeli airstrikes into Syria were “unacceptable” and amounted to “handing over (to Assad) opportunities on a golden tray.” Erdogan added: “Assad, who has not sweated a single drop against Israel for the (occupation of the) Golan Heights is now using the Israeli attack to cover up the Banias massacre.”
A mortar shell fired from Syria exploded in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights yesterday, hitting an open field without causing any casualties or damage, an army spokeswoman said.
It was the third incident of fire from the civil war in neighboring Syria straying across the cease-fire line in 24 hours and came as tensions soared after the Israeli attack.
Separately, a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is predicting the US will soon be “arming the rebels” seeking to overthrow Syria’s Bashar Assad.
Tennessee’s Bob Corker says “it’s time to begin changing” the balance of power in the 2-year-old civil war.
Corker and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, joined President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. Mark Udall for golf Monday. Corker told “CBS This Morning” political issues were discussed but said the partners agreed not to reveal the conversation.
Corker did say that Washington wants to exercise caution about which opposition groups to support, saying it doesn’t want to line up with the more radical elements fighting against Assad.