Syrian war has displaced 270,000 people says UN

Amman, July 3: A regime offensive in southern Syria has forced more than 270,000 people from their homes, the United Nations said.

"We were expecting the number of displaced in southern Syria to reach 200,000, but it has already exceeded 270,000 people in record time," said Mohammad Hawari, the spokesman for UN refugee agency UNHCR in Amman.

Nearly two weeks of ferocious air strikes and barrel bombing have seen regime forces retake swathes of rebel-held territory in the southern province of Daraa.