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Ammon News - by Taylor Luck | The Jordan Times

AMMAN/IRBID — Syrian government forces launched a series of bombing raids on Thursday on the towns of Nasib and Taibeh near the Jordanian border, where some 25,000 Syrians have taken refuge after being prevented by violence from crossing into Jordan.

Syrian border region residents voiced concern over the fate of their displaced compatriots, many of whom have been left without shelter and are exposed to the shells.

“We have 10,000 people in the streets who have nowhere to run to when the rockets fall,” said Mohammad Al Darawi, an activist with the National Coalition of the Syrian Opposition in Nasib, which has allegedly received an influx of over 15,000 displaced Syrians over the past month alone.

“If the regime does not stop soon, we will witness the largest massacre since the start of the revolution,” Darawi claimed.

Thursday marked the second straight day of heavy shelling in southern Syria, according to activists.

Local residents and activists in Nasib and Taibeh were unable to verify the number of casualties in the bombings, with Free Syrian Army officials estimating that “over 50” displaced Syrians have been killed by rocket-fire.

The shelling comes amid an ongoing exodus of over 20,000 civilians fleeing recent chemical attacks in central Damascus.

Despite the border violence, hundreds continued to head for Jordan due to fears of renewed chemical attacks, with the Free Syrian Army reporting the flight of 2,000 Syrians from the towns of Zamalka and Irbin in the Damascene countryside on Thursday.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued to close access routes into Jordan, with the Jordan Armed Forces reporting the crossing of only 150 Syrians on Thursday.

Over 580,000 Syrians have sought refuge in the Kingdom since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.