Syrian forces have been bombing the town of Yabroud near the Lebanese border, backed by a ground offensive according to some reports.<br /><br />Syrian security sources described it as a routine operation to root out “armed terrorist groups”.<br /><br />But in Aleppo the accusations of atrocities are directed at the government.<br /><br />Footage published on the internet, which experts say is credible, is said to show the moments after one of several “barrel bombs” fell on the northern city on Monday.<br /><br />Smoke fills the air, casualties are carried away on stretchers and there is a general atmosphere of panic.<br /><br />The opposition says the drums packed with explosives have killed hundreds of people in Aleppo alone in the past week.<br /><br />Refugees who have fled Syria watch events from a distance, and note that talks in Switzerland have coincided with more not less violence. <br /><br />“Geneva, Geneva, Geneva, we’ve been waiting for the Geneva conference to find a solution, but it’s brought us nothing,” said Dahi al-Hammadi, who comes from Deir al-Zour in Syria and now lives at the huge Zaatari camp in Jordan. <br /><br />The influx of refugees into the east Bekaa region of Lebanon has put pressure on that country’s resources and the economy.<br /><br />Shops in the town of Arsal now face fierce competition from the Syrian arrivals. Mahmoud has sold desserts for 20 years. <br /><br />“Now I earn much less. I sell a packet of sugar cookies for 6,000 lira. The Syrians have opened many dessert shops here and they sell them for 4,000. Now I have fewer customers and I have to reduce prices so I earn less and less,” he says. <br /><br />In three years, the number of refugees has trebled the town’s population to 100,000.<br /><br />The Lebanese understand the Syrians’ plight but say their own livelihoods are under threat.
