UN says more than 270,000 displaced in southern Syria

The number of people forced to flee their homes in southwestern Syria as a result of the two-week escalation in fighting has climbed to 270,000 people, the UN refugee spokesman in Jordan said.

The United Nations said last week 160,000 had been displaced as they fled heavy bombardment and mostly took shelter in villages and areas near the Israeli and Jordanian borders.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic reports.

"Our latest update shows the figure of displaced across southern Syria has exceeded 270,000 people," Mohammad Hawari, UNHCR's Jordan spokesman said.

The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the southwest caused by the fighting that erupted after a Russian-backed army offensive to recapture rebel-held southern Syria.

Jordan, which has taken in more than half a million displaced Syrians since the war began, and Israel have said they will not open their borders to refugees.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters on Monday after a meeting with UN officials that shipments of aid were waiting to get approvals to enter into Syria from the Jordanian border. 

Bosra agrees

In the meantime, a major insurgent-held town in southwestern Syria has accepted the return of regime leader Bashar al Assad's rule, pro-regime media and a war monitor said on Sunday, though some local activists and rebels disputed a deal had been completed.

Losing Bosra al Sham, a major town near the provincial capital of Daraa, would be a significant loss for the opposition in the teeth of a Russian-backed Syrian regime forces offensive in the southwest that has taken chunks of rebel territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a state television correspondent and media run by Assad's Lebanese ally Hezbollah said insurgents in Bosra al Sham, east of the provincial capital Daraa had agreed to the deal and were handing over heavy weapons.

Jordan on Sunday mediated in a new round of talks between rebels in the southwest and Assad's main ally Russia, seeking a wider truce in the area to avert more bloodshed and another wave of displaced people near its border.

Russia has played a critical role in supporting Assad's two-week offensive with air power and negotiating local deals initially overseen by its military police.

Southwest Syria is a "de-escalation zone" of reduced warfare and bombardment agreed by Russia, Jordan and the United States last year. Washington warned it would respond to violations of this agreement, but has done nothing so far. Last week, rebels said the United States had told them not to expect any American military support.