Ammon News - by Taylor Luck/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — Rising violence stranded hundreds of Syrians along the Jordanian-Syrian border on Sunday, as a fresh regime offensive across southern Syria entered its fourth straight day.

Local residents and rebel officials claim that intensified bombing by Damascus has all but “cut off” some 30 towns and villages in southern Syria from the rest of the country, stranding around 4,000 displaced Syrians along the border.

“Since Thursday, the regime has been dropping hundreds of missiles on us every hour,” said Mohammad Al Hourani, whose hometown of Sheikh Al Maskeen was the target of heavy shelling late Saturday.

“Walking out of the door has become suicide.”

The spike in violence has driven many Syrians to flee to Jordan via lesser-travelled eastern desert routes, relief officials say, with some 240 refugees crossing into the Kingdom via these routes on Sunday.

The Jordan Armed Forces said a total of 400 Syrians entered Jordan early Sunday — well below a previous influx which once averaged some 2,500 persons per day.

Since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011, over 560,000 Syrians have taken refuge in the Kingdom, and the UN expects their number to surpass 1.3 million by the end of the year.

Government officials have stressed on several occasions that the Kingdom is committed to maintaining its open-border policy despite the strain on its limited resources.