Syrian Rebels Seize Strategic Town Near Jordanian Border

Syrian rebels seized full control of an ancient town near the Jordanian border that is a key government stronghold on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Heavy fighting took place in and around Bosra al-Sham, a town in Syria’s southern Daraa province that is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bosra al-Sham has been in the hands of government forces throughout the conflict in Syria and was considered to be a stronghold of pro-government forces in Daraa.

The town’s capture is a strategic gain because of its proximity to Damascus as well as the neighboring states of Israel and Jordan.

It is also located in Syria’s southwestern corner, “the last significant foothold of mainstream rebels, who have mostly been crushed elsewhere in Syria by government forces or jihadist groups.”

The mainstream rebels, known as the Southern Front, claim that foreign states have stepped up their military support since Damascus launched an offensive last month to regain the frontier zone near Jordan and Israel.

The attack on the town coincides with rebel gains in northern Syria near the city of Idlib, where a group of rebels launched an offensive this week.

Conflicts in Syria and Iraq Send Asylum Seeker Numbers Up by Nearly Half

The conflicts in Syria and Iraq drove up the number of asylum seekers in industrialized countries by nearly half last year, with Germany as the top destination, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday.

An estimated 866,000 asylum seekers filed claims in 2014, a 45 percent rise from the year before and the second highest on record, coming close to the all-time high of about 900,000 requests made at the beginning of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Today, the surge in armed conflicts around the world presents us with similar challenges, in particular the dramatic situation in Syria. Our response has to be just as generous now as it was then,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres.

Syria’s conflict has forced 11.4 million people to flee their homes. Nearly four million Syrian refugees taken in by Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq don’t figure in the statistics in its “Asylum Trends 2014” report.

Last year, Syrians accounted for nearly 150,000 applications for asylum in 44 industrialized countries, marking a 166 percent increase from 2013 and accounting for one in every five claims, according to a statement by the UNHCR.

Iraqis placed second with 68,700 requests, almost doubling the 2013 figure.

“Most Iraqis are fleeing to Turkey,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. “If you just look at Syrians, it’s Germany and Sweden that are taking in most of the Syrian asylum seekers in Europe.”

Stray Rocket from Syria Injures Five Inside Turkey

A stray missile from Syria wounded five Turkish citizens in the southern city of Reyhanli on Wednesday, in the latest spillover of violence from neighboring Syria, Reuters reports.

“The rocket landed 200 meters (650 feet) from a Turkish military post near the town of Reyhanli, causing part of a roof to collapse, shattering windows and damaging two army vehicles. The military fired back at a Syrian army post in response,” Reuters adds.

“During heavy weapons fire by the Syrian army on the rebels, a rocket or missile landed inside a neighborhood east of Hatay’s Reyhanli district,” the military said in a statement.

Turkey has kept its borders open to refugees since the beginning of the conflict, but Turkish authorities have temporarily closed border crossings in the past as a safety precaution.

Most recently it closed the border crossings of Oncupinar and Cilvegozu in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, in response to intensifying violence in Aleppo.

Stray bullets and rockets have spilled over into Turkish territory in the past, prompting the Turkish military to return fire.

A bomb in Reyhanli that Turkey blamed on Syrian government forces killed 50 people in 2013.

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• Agence France-Presse: Syria, Iraq Conflicts Send Asylum-Seeker Numbers Up 45%: U.N.
• Daily Sabah: Rocket from Syria Adds to Turkey’s Security Woes
• Agence France-Presse: ‘Serious Concern’ on Syria Gas Attack Reports
• The Washington Post: Syria’s Women Are Part of the Battles Against Rebels

Photo Courtesy of AP Images