'Dire' water shortages in Syria, as ambush kills 50 pro-Assad soldiers

The Red Cross and Red Crescent warned on Friday that the ongoing conflict as well as existing damage to water and sanitation infrastructure will have "dire humanitarian consequences for millions."

"Limited access to clean water will continue to affect the life of Syrians for years to come", warned Dr Attar, president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

In most of Syria's governorates, including Deir Ezzor, Raqqa and Aleppo, low levels of winter rainfall and high summer temperatures have put further pressure on an already vulnerable population.

Bloody fighting in Syria continued throughout Friday, with an ambush claimed by the Free Syrian Army killing 50 pro-government soldiers in Raqqa province, reports Anadolu.

Also on Friday, militants affiliated to the Islamic State announced that they had killed at least 50 soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on the other side of the country, in Qalamoun province of Damasus in south-eastern Syria according to AFP.

The violence on Friday affected civilians as well as soldiers and militants, with two children dying in a government heavy artillery bombing in the countryside outside of Damascus on Friday afternoon, according to reports by anti-Assad Aleppo radio station Nasaem Syria.

The uptick in violence and the humanitarian warnings come as pro-Assad forces continue to try to take back Shaar gas field.

Fighting around the gas field in Homs province exploded last week as militants from the Islamic State launched one of their largest ever operations to take over the facility, killing a reported 270 people from the Syrian army as well as security guards and employees.

The capture of Shaar gas field has been hailed as a significant victory for IS, adding to their swelling numbers.

Over 800 fighters from al-Nusra Front have defected to the Islamic State in the past three weeks, according to Washington Post correspondent Taylor Luck.

Overspill in Jordan

A reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by a Jordanian missile near to Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, reports pan-Arab news site al-Arabiya.

The plane was downed and completed destroyed by the Jordanian air defence forces early on Friday morning, reported Jordan’s Ammon news agency.

The unmanned drone, which was flying near the camp that houses around 100,000 Syrian refugees, had crossed into Jordanian airspace from Syria, according to al-Arabiya.

“It was a violation of Jordan’s airspace. Jordan will take measures at a high level after identifying the drone”, an official told AFP.

Civilians living nearby told al-Arabiya that their houses shook as the plane came down.

The presence of Syrian refugees in Jordan has increased the demand for water by 20 percent, the Jordanian water and irrigation minister said on Friday.