UNHCR confirms Syrian refugees have hit 1 million mark

Syrian regime\'s bombardment of Homs has entered a fourth day Syrian government forces continued to bombard opposition-held districts in Homs, as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced that the number of Syrian refugees has now hit the one million mark.Elsewhere, Free Syrian Army (FSA) Joint Command published a report claiming that Lebanese political group Hezbollah is plotting to storm Syrian territories, Qatar opposed a Lebanese proposal at the Arab League Council to revoke the suspension of Syria\'s membership of the Arab organisation, and US Secretary of State John Kerry hinted at US tolerance of arming the opposition.
Warplanes and helicopters struck opposition strongholds in Homs on Wednesday as regime forces attempted to storm besieged neighbourhoods, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The area of Khalidiya in Homs was shelled by rocket launchers and military aircraft, SOHR said, as revolutionary forces clashed with regime troops on the outskirts of the neighbourhood.
SOHR chief Rami Abdulrahman said hundreds of civilians were trapped in these areas which are still outside regime control. \"There is no way of knowing how they can get out and to where they can flee if regime forces manage to take these strongholds,\" he said.
Syrian state television said the armed forces were \"closing in\" on \"armed terrorist groups\" in Homs and \"inflicting major losses.\"
The media office of the rebel military collective, Supreme Military Council in Damascus and Rif Dimashq said the FSA had bombarded regime sites in Abbasids Square and the March 8 complex for the first time.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCCs) also claimed that the FSA \"completely destroyed\" the Ghassoula roadblock on Damascus International Airport road, killing \"a large number\" of shabiha (armed regime supporters), destroying three tanks and several vehicles.
Meanwhile, regime forces bombarded the towns of Saqba, Zamalla, Daraya and Jasreen in Rif Dimashq.
In northern Syria, the city of Raqqa was bombarded by regime aircraft after rebel fighters had taken complete control. Clashes took place near the military intelligence office, SOHR reported. The UK-based group said government raids targeted the areas around security buildings.
On Monday, rebels stormed Raqqa in dramatic scenes which included the capture of the governor and toppling of a gold statue of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
Syrian newspaper al-Watan, which is close to the regime, said \"massive reinforcements\" had been deployed in Raqqa, with a military quoted as saying that calm will return to the town \"within a few days.\"
The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) reported that regime forces had used phosphorus bombs in a rocket attack on Daraa el-Balad, Daraa, causing injuries and burns. The SRGC also reported that over 220 Syrian army officers and soldiers had defected in Daraa and Rif Dimashq.
Elsewhere, FSA Brigadier General Salim Idris said he would end the conflict today, but the regime \"does not want to.\" He added, \"the regime will fall when it loses the battle for Damascus.\"
Idris, who had defected from the national Syrian army, criticised Iran and Hezbollah for backing the regime. He also explained that his defection came after government forces stormed his village, killed four people and raided and looted homes.
The commander also accused Syrian forces of deliberately targeting mosques and vandalising churches in order to blame the damage on rebels. \"The FSA prohibits attacks on churches, mosques and houses of worship and we will rebuild any mosque or church that sustains any damage, at our own expense when the revolution is successful,\" he said.
In separate developments, the FSA Joint Command published preliminary details of what it claimed was Hezbollah\'s plan to storm Syrian territories from the rural area surrounding Homs.
The command warned the United Nations, Arabs League and neighbouring countries of the \"repercussions\" of such a move from the Lebanese political party. According to the report, Hezbollah is planning to displace Syrian regime forces in the area between Arsal in Lebanon and Kalmoun in Syria in order to cut off the opposition\'s supply routes.
The report said that Hezbollah had set up \"deployment points\" at Jourd Nahle, Baalbak, on the Syrian border as well as in eight villages controlled by Hezbollah.
The FSA joint command also alleged that extra protection will be deployed on the road connecting the cities of Baalbek and Hermel in Lebanon, which also runs into Syria, in order to prevent the FSA from taking it.
The report said that Hezbollah would deploy between 4000 to 5000 of its fighters in Syria, entering from Homs.
Arabstoday has been unable independently verify contents of the report.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has called on the Arab League Council to revoke the suspension of Syria\'s membership in the organisation as a step towards reaching a political solution to the conflict, saying that contact with the regime is necessary.
In response, Mansour\'s Qatari counterpart, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, said President Assad was responsible for the \"bloodbath\" in Syria and that previous resolutions passed by the Arab League had failed to resolve the crisis.
Syria\'s membership of the Arab League was suspended in November 2011, eight months after the outbreak of anti-Assad protests.
The Arab League Council is currently meeting in Egypt.
In a related development, US Secretary of State John Kerry has hinted flexibility in arming the Syrian opposition. Speaking at a joint press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani in Doha, Kerry said: \"We had a discussion about the types of weapons that are being transferred and by whom. We are aware of what people are doing.\"
\"We did discuss the question of the ability to try to guarantee that [weapons are] going to the right people and to the moderate Syrian opposition coalition and I think it\'s really in the last months that the group has developed as a capacity that we have greater confidence in,\" he added.
As the Syrian conflict enters its second year, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres has revealed that the number of Syrian either registered as refugees or being assisted as such has hit the one million mark.
\"With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster,\" Guterres said on Wednesday.
A report by the UNHCR said: \"The number of Syrian refugees fleeing their country has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year. More than 400,000 people have become refugees since January 1, 2013.\"
\"They arrive traumatised, without possessions and having lost members of their families. Around half of the refugees are children, the majority under the age of eleven. Most have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Increasingly, Syrians are also fleeing to North Africa and Europe.\"
Guterres said that countries that have taken in Syrian refugees should not only be recognised for their \"unstinting commitment\" to keeping their borders open for Syrian refugees, but they should also be massively supported.
The High Commissioner noted that the refugees are having a severe impact on neighbouring countries. Lebanon\'s population has increased by as much as 10 percent. Jordan\'s energy, water, health and education services are being strained to the limit. Turkey has spent over $600 million setting up 17 refugee camps, with more under construction. Iraq, juggling its own crisis with more than 1 million Iraqis internally displaced, has received more than 100,000 Syrian refugees in the past year.
\"We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched. This tragedy has to be stopped,\" the refugees chief said.
High Commissioner Guterres will be travelling to the region later this week to visit UNHCR operations in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon.