Crisis Description

• Main drivers of the crisis: Armed conflict, insecurity, lack of respect for International Humanitarian Law including indiscriminate assaults on densely populated civilian neighbourhoods, use of imprecise and indiscriminate weapons, extra-judicial summary executions of civilians, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture.

• Recent trend: July and August marked a shift in the scale and scope of the conflict as violence spread to Aleppo and Damascus, the country’s two largest cities.
  Refugee numbers have tripled since June, peaking during August and September.

• Impact: The violence has led to the killing of thousands of people, some deliberately targeted while others have been killed due to the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas. Countless homes, clinics, hospitals and other essential infrastructure such as water and sanitation systems have been destroyed or severely damaged. Large-scale displacement is resulting in overcrowded shelters with insufficient sanitary facilities. Host communities capacity to support is being stretched and in many locations they are themselves facing food, medicine and water shortages. Blockades and curfews imposed on cities facing hostilities have prevented residents from obtaining water, food and medical care.

• The impact of the conflict has aggravated existing vulnerabilities, especially among the urban and rural poor. Unemployment has increased in the formal and informal sectors, including in industry, agriculture and the service sector. Inflation and depreciation are negatively affecting purchasing power.