Shifting frontlines intensify Syria's humanitarian crisis

Aid agencies struggle to respond as 300,000 people are displaced from their homes

Shifting frontlines and allegiances in Syria are making it difficult to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis triggered by Turkey's offensive on Kurdish-controlled parts of the country, aid groups have said.

After eight days of the Turkish operation about 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 71 people killed in north-east Syria, according to the UN and a human rights monitor. Local officials on Thursday put the number of dead at 231. Over the border in Turkey, 20 civilians have been killed in counterattacks.