850,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since Assad’s fall, UN says

A convoy of trucks, carrying UN humanitarian aid, heads toward Sweida (Omar Sanadiki/AP)

Since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in December, some 850,000 Syrian refugees have returned home from neighbouring countries – and the figure could reach one million in the coming weeks, a top official with the UN refugee agency has said.

Deputy high commissioner of UNHCR Kelly T Clements told The Associated Press in Damascus that about 1.7 million people who were internally displaced during the 14-year conflict have returned to their communities as the interim central government now controls large parts of Syria.