More than 5,000 Syrians fled to Jordan over the past three days to escape escalating bloodshed in their homeland, a leading charity caring for the refugees said on Tuesday.
"This morning, more than 1,500 sought refuge in Ramtha," said Zayed Hammad, head of the Ketab and Sunna Society, which has been providing aid to around 50,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.
The Jordanian border town of Ramtha is home to a large number of Syrian refugees.
"More than 5,000 Syrians crossed the border to the kingdom in the past three days," Hammad told AFP.
Jordan hosts more than 140,000 Syrians, of whom 36,000 are UN-registered.
"In the past, Jordan used to receive between 300 to 600 Syrian refugees per night. Now, we are talking about more than 1,200 a day," Andrew Harper, Jordan representative of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told AFP.
The kingdom is building more camps to host the influx.
"Obviously the growing numbers of refugees reflects the situation inside Syria," Harper said.
At least 19,000 people have been killed since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule broke out in March last year.
Monitoring the unrest in neighboring Syria with great concern, Jordan has tightened security along its northern border.
