50 displaced Syrians ‘die of starvation’ near Jordan border

AMMAN/IRBID — Fifty Syrian refugees trapped along the Jordanian-Syrian border by ongoing shelling died of starvation and malnutrition on Monday and Tuesday, activists and border region residents said.

The deaths were reported in the Syrian border villages of Daal, Sheikh Maskin and Al Tufs as regime forces continued an ongoing aerial bombing campaign that has prevented food supplies from reaching the under-siege towns.

The vast majority of the deceased were some of the estimated 50,000 displaced Syrians who have fled various cities across the country and have been prevented by rising violence from crossing into Jordan, activists claim.

“We are starting to see children and even adults dying from simple health conditions such as dehydration and diarrhoea,” said Ahmad Al Jayousi, a volunteer nurse at a makeshift field hospital in Al Tufs, where 20 patients have reportedly died of malnutrition-related complications this week.

The reported deaths raises to 250 the total number of civilians in southern Syria who have allegedly succumbed to starvation-related health conditions this month, Syrian rebel officials say, warning that the lives of over 20,000 remain in danger should relief agencies fail to break the ongoing military blockade and deliver aid to border towns and villages.

Damascus continued its seven-week-old aerial offensive across southern Syria, closing off traditional access routes to Jordan and driving hundreds to flee to the Kingdom via the eastern desert along the Iraqi border.

Some 400 Syrians crossed into Jordan early Tuesday, the Jordan Armed Forces said, the vast majority having travelled from the northern Syrian towns of Homs and Hama.

Jordan has opened its borders to over 600,000 Syrians since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog