BEIRUT, March 20. /TASS/. The number of refugees who have taken refuge in Lebanon due to the escalation of the situation in Syria's western provinces has reached 15,000 people since the beginning of March, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
According to it, most Syrian families are now in 22 settlements in the northern governorate of Akkar, near the border with Lebanon. Some have gone to the cities of Tripoli, Zgharta and Koura, the document said.
The Lebanese authorities and civil society organizations are providing assistance, shelter, warm clothes, food and medicine to the displaced.
On March 6-10, security forces of the transitional government in Damascus launched an operation against armed supporters of former President Bashar Assad in the governorates of Latakia, Tartus, Hama and Homs. Approximately 1,500 people were killed in the clashes. Most of them belong to the Alawite community, whose descendants make up 12% of Syria's population.