Up to 1.5 million people could flee Syrian escalation, UN official says

Up to 1.5 million people could be forced to flee a surge in fighting in Syria, a senior U.N. official said on Friday, as rebels pressed on with their lightning offensive against government forces.

The violence has already displaced 280,000 people since it erupted in late November, Samer AbdelJaber, the World Food Programme's Director for Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, told reporters in Geneva.

"If the situation continues evolving (at the same) ... pace, we're expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support," he added.

After years locked behind frozen front lines, the insurgents have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to reel off the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.

Aid agencies say they have only been able to raise less than a third of the $4 billion they said they needed to run programmes in 2024, before the new fighting started.

Earlier this month, the U.N. humanitarian office said it had had to cut food rations in Syria by up to 80% due to insufficient funds.

"The situation in Syria was not easy before this escalation, so we're looking at a crisis on top of crisis. And that's why we're really emphasising the urgent need for funding," Abdeljaber said.