Bodies of executed men lie on the side of a canal in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, Tuesday. The bodies of at least 68 unidentified young men and boys, all executed with a single gunshot to the head or neck, were found in the Quweiq River, which separates the Bustan Al-Qasr district from Ansari in the southwest of Aleppo. — AFP
GENEVA — More than 700,000 Syrian refugees have registered in neighboring countries or await processing there, and aid workers are struggling to keep up with the exodus, the United Nations said Tuesday.
“We have seen an unrelenting flow of refugees across all borders. We are running double shifts to register people,” Sybella Wilkes, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters in Geneva.
Jordan hosts 167,444 registered Syrian refugees, as well as 51,729 who await processing, many of who fled fighting around Deraa, according to UNHCR figures posted overnight that show an overall regional total of about 705,000 refugees as of Jan. 27.
“We are trying to clear a backlog of people because the numbers have gone up so dramatically (in Jordan and Lebanon),” Wilkes said.
Lebanon has 157,139 Syrian refugees, as well as nearly 69,000 who await processing. “The needs are enormous, we can’t get to everyone fast enough,” Wilkes quoted Ninette Kelley, UNHCR representative in Lebanon, as saying.
Turkey has 163,161 Syrian refugees in its 15 camps while Iraq hosts 77,415. There are 14,312 in Egypt and 5,417 registered across the rest of North Africa, the agency said.
About four million Syrians rely on international assistance to cope with the fallout from the 22-month old conflict in which the UN estimates more than 60,000 people have died.
On the ground, Syrian rebels captured a vital bridge across the Euphrates river in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor that could cut off regime supplies to the adjoining province of Hasakeh, a watchdog said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the seizing of the Siyasiyeh bridge and another smaller bridge in Deir Ezzor triggered retaliatory air strikes from the regime forces targeting the two crossings.
The rebels before dawn seized the Siyasiyeh suspension bridge, which straddles the Euphrates and connects the eastern city of Deir Ezzor with Hasakeh, after several days of fierce fighting, the Observatory said.
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