With fighting raging in Qusayr, western Syria, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that it has been seeing numbers of refugees arriving in eastern Lebanon after escaping from the city.

The refugees, mostly women and children, said that Qusayr has been badly damaged and the living conditions are extremely difficult. The route to Lebanon was dangerous and it was unsafe to travel with men, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters here at a daily news briefing.

Since heavy fighting flared up three weeks ago, Qusayr, described by these refugees as a ghost town, is heavily damaged and rocked by warfare. People are hiding in bunkers or holes dug as shelters, said the spokesperson.

The city has been witnessing furious battles between the government troops and the armed rebels, who have been entrenching there since 18 months ago. The offensive, which was launched by the government troops, aims to cut the rebels' main supply line in the central region of the country.

UNHCR does not have access to Qusayr and the refugee accounts are hard to verify. "It is imperative that people seeking a route out of Qusayr, and other unsafe locations, be allowed access to safe areas," Nesirky said.

Since March 2011, fighting between the Syrian government and opposition forces seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad has killed more than 70,000 people, and left 6.8 million people in need. In addition, the UN estimates that some 1.5 million Syrians have fled their country to escape conflict. Enditem

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