MidEast

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Syrian Air Force Keeping Chemical Weapons Survivors Pinned at Syria-Jordan Border

Victims of what is widely believed to be a chemical weapons attack against opposition-held suburbs of Damascus are facing a new crisis. Having fled southward nearly 75 miles from East Ghouta, the site of the attack, they are now being pinned in their places – and prevented from entering Jordan – by Syrian bombing runs:

Refugees say they have been marooned by an ongoing government bombing campaign, unable to cross into Jordan or return to their homes. They say they have moved into abandoned schoolhouses, disused bakeries and demolished buildings in towns and villages across the south amid near-constant air raids as they await a chance to leave.

“We have no money, no food, no home and now nowhere left to go,” said Mohammed al- Saeed, who has been living in a makeshift shelter in the border town of Tal Shihab with his family of five since fleeing his home town of Ghouta Sharqiyyeh, or Eastern Ghouta, five days ago. “Sometimes I believe we would be better off dead.”

A map of their path is embedded below.

There are survivors suffering from untreated effects of the chemical weapons attack, while the overall refugee flood has generated strain on local resources. Local municipalities are running low on a range of staples.


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[Photo: Guest2625 / Wiki Commons]