EA World View
The UN has raised its estimate of “hard to reach” Syrians to 5 million — almost half the people remaining in the country after more than five years of conflict.
The UN’s head of humanitarian affairs, Stephen O’Brien, told the Security Council on Friday that the number had been raised from 4.1 million because of further insecurity in northern Syria and the Assad regime’s restrictions on access to aid.
O’Brien criticized the regime for the barrel-bombing of Darayya, the besieged town southwest of Damascus, and of the Castello Road, a vital route into opposition-held parts of Aleppo city: He said of the shells and barrel bombs:
Let me repeat: their use in this manner constitutes indiscriminate attacks. Their sole purpose is to terrorize and punish the civilian population. All attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, must end. They must end now.
The official also said he was “gravely concerned” about the situation of 70,000 displaced Syrians trapped near the Jordanian border.
The refugees have been in the informal Ruqban camp for months, after Jordan closed the crossing. Security was further tightened this week after six Jordanian soldiers were killed by assailants.
The refugees have been without food, water, or medical care for day, leading aid agencies to warn of a humanitarian crisis.