LATEST: UN — More Than 9 Million Syrians Displaced
Syria’s State media proclaim that residents of Homs are returning to their homes after the departure of insurgents, following more than two years of siege and bombardment.
State news agency SANA declares:
After waiting for over two years, people from Homs Old City began flocking to their hometown on Friday , where their joy over coming back is mixed with sadness over the destruction caused to the city.
Locals, some of whom gathered at Oum al-Zennar Church, while others checked on their homes and shops, asserted that they will rebuild everything that was damaged and destroyed.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians left Syria’s third-largest city during the fighting, with others trapped in the 13 districts under siege by Syrian forces.
SANA features other claimed quotes from the residents such as “what happened to (my) home shows the barbaric nature of terrorists and their hatred of the Syrian people” and “(my) happiness over returning to her home cannot be described, voicing determination to stay in it as of today despite the massive destruction it suffered”.
Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi toured a convent and church, as SANA highlights the destruction of Christian sites and the killing of Father Francis van der Lugt by gunmen.
UN: More Than 9 Million Syrians Displaced
A senior United Nations official said Friday that more than 9 million Syrians have been displaced by the country’s civil war.
John Ging, the director of operations at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said 6.5 million Syrians have been displaced inside Syria while 2.7 million are refugees in nearby countries.
Syria’s population before the uprising of March 2011 was about 22 million.
Ging said the UN’s humanitarian appeal is only 20% funded and the organizaiton has collected only about 25% of the money it needs to assist refugees.
An estimated 3.5 million people are not receiving aid, Ging said, because of fighting that prevents deliveries.
Elizabeth Hoff, the World Health Organization’s representative in Damascus, said 50% of hospitals are out of service and 70% are damaged.
The UN delivered more than 4 million medical treatments in the first four months of this year, Hoff said, but has been largely unable to reach insurgent-controlled areas.
Ging accused the regime of blocking supplies that might be used to treat insurgents: “This is an abomination. Anything that could be used to treat the war wounded is being removed from the medical convoys.”
Regime Continues Attacks on Mleha Near Damascus
Following its defeat in battles earlier this week, the Syrian military renewed its bombardment of the strategic town of Mleha near Damascus on Monday.
The opposition Shaam News Network reported more than 10 air raids in 40 minutes and rocket attacks, with clashes “on several fronts in the city” in which the Free Syrian Army repelled regime forces.
Syrian troops briefly reached the center of Mleha on Monday but were ejected by insurgents and took heavy losses in an ambush as they retreated.
President Assad’s forces have tried for more than five weeks to capture Mleha, the “gateway” to the East Ghouta area.
