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February 7, 2013

U.N. Warns of "Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis" in Syria as Dozens Killed 
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Opposition activists in Syria are claiming new civilian casualties in
the latest attacks on rebel strongholds around the capital Damascus. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 55 people, including
19 civilians, have been killed in a roughly 24-hour period since the
regime of President Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive on Damascus
suburbs. Overall, the group says at least 141 people were killed
nationwide on Wednesday, including 36 civilians. At the United Nations,
a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs said Syria's "catastrophic humanitarian crisis" threatens to
worsen ahead of the conflict's upcoming two-year anniversary.

Jens Laerke: "As we're almost at the two-year mark of the beginning of
the conflict, the catastrophic humanitarian crisis continues to deepen.
This time we're issuing a warning. If the violence continues unabated,
we could, in the short term, see considerably more than the currently
four million people in need of assistance, and more than the currently
estimate of two million internally displaced."

 

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