Terrorism & Security

Refugee flow soars as Syrians flee intense fighting between rebels, Assad forces

The UN says that more than 11,000 people fled Syria overnight, and is warning that by early 2013, some 4 million inside Syria could need humanitarian aid.

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer / November 9, 2012

Residents flee their homes after a shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Binsh near Idlib, Syria, Thursday, November 8.

Courtesy of Muhammad Najdat Qadour/Shaam News Network/Reuters

Battle for the heart of Syria: inside Aleppo

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Whitney Eulich

Latin America Editor

Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.

In Pictures: Battle for the heart of Syria: inside Aleppo

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As the ongoing violence in Syria nears its 21st month, the United Nations warns that by early 2013 some 4 million people in Syria will be in need of humanitarian aid. But as international organizations, world leaders, and Syria’s opposition groups point urgently to the bloodshed and rising death toll in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is ignoring calls for him to step down.

In an interview with Russia’s RT TV, Mr. Assad said Syria isn’t facing a civil war, but “terrorism by proxy.”

“It is not about reconciling with the people and it is not about reconciliation between the Syrians and the Syrians; we do not have a civil war. It is about terrorism and the support coming from abroad to terrorists to destabilize Syria. This is our war,” Assad said in the interview, which aired in full today.

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There have been reports of Al Qaeda affiliates joining in to fight the regime in Syria, reports The Christian Science Monitor, something that has raised concerns about offering arms to those battling Assad.

The Syrian conflict has claimed an estimated 36,000 lives, according to activists, and displaced some 1.2 million people, according to the UN. A failure to end the fighting there could mean 700,000 Syrian refugees fleeing into neighboring countries by early 2013, reports the Associated Press. As many as 9,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey overnight to flee the violence in their country, a United Nations official told the AP, citing officials in Turkey where footage showed refugees climbing through the barbed-wire fence separating the two countries. More than 11,000 fled overall, flowing into Jordan and Lebanon as well as Turkey.

International intervention, Assad warned in his RT TV interview, however, would lead to global catastrophe.

“I think the price of this invasion, if it happened, is going to be more than the whole world can afford,” Assad said. The Assad family has ruled in Syria for the past 40 years, and Assad has often cited the fragility of the region and the role of Syria in balancing disparate religious minorities as key factors in maintaining regional stability, reports the Los Angeles Times.