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Twin offensive forces mass exodus in Syria

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 16 Mar 2018

Twin offensive forces mass exodus in Syria

Image: UNICEF/Souliman

Damascus: Around 50,000 people have fled Syria in the wake of separate offensive carried out by the Syrian government forces and Turkish forces in Eastern Ghouta and Afrin respectively, according to UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Turkey's offensive against the YPG/PKK and ISIS terrorists have forced about 30,000 people to flee the land.

In Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, around 20,000 people have fled since the Syrian forces targeted the area.

According to reports, over 12 million people have been displaced from their homes since war broke out in Syria, about seven years ago.

"At least 6.1 million are internally displaced while another 5.6 million have fled abroad," a BBC report read.

Since the war, over 400,000 people have been reportedly killed, presumed dead or are missing.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering in the national capital that his country will not stop until it completely captures Afrin.

"The European Parliament is apparently going to ask for the Afrin operation to be stopped," he said. "Don't get your hopes up, we will not leave there until the job is done. You should know this."

Reviewing the situation in Damascus, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president Peter Maurer said, "I'll probably remember the boy who approached me near the streets of Eastern Ghouta asking whether I had a small bottle of water which illustrates how dire the situation is," he said.

"In many other places of the world when I come to situations like the one I've seen in Eastern Ghouta it's normally the additional sweet that is requested. Here it's basics," he said.