AMMAN -- Some 600 Syrians crossed into Jordan early Wednesday, up from 400 on Tuesday, according to the Jordan Armed Forces, as violence raged across southern Syria.
The violence along the Jordanian-Syrian border closed off main access routes into the Kingdom, forcing hundreds of refugees to brave eastern desert tracks near the Iraqi border to enter the country.
Ahmad Homsawi is one of hundreds of displaced Syrians who chose to travel along the over 400-kilometre trek along the eastern Syrian desert upon learning that heavy shelling had blocked off traditional crossing routes from southwest Syria into Jordan.
"After spending a week travelling to the border, the Free Syrian Army [FSA] told us that there was no way into Jordan except east," Homsawi said shortly after arriving in Jordan with his family of six from their hometown of Homs on Wednesday, a journey that took over two weeks to complete.
"We immediately grabbed our bags and headed for the desert -- no one is willing to wait and die in Syria anymore," the 45-year-old farmer said.
FSA officials and Syrian activists raised concern over the fate of some 9,000 displaced civilians in southern Syria reportedly directly threatened by Wednesday's bombing, the vast majority of whom have been left without shelter.
According to FSA estimates, over 100 displaced civilians have been killed in Damascus' month-long military offensive along the Jordanian-Syrian border, which has reportedly stranded an estimated 60,000 people in besieged rebel strongholds.
Jordan has opened its borders to over 600,000 Syrians since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.
© Jordan Times 2013
