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Almost one third of Syria's population have abandoned their homes to escape the conflict under the Assad regime, according to a new United Nations estimate, as reported by The Associated Press. 

As a result, international aid to Syrians uprooted by civil war is only a "drop in the sea" of what is needed, according to Tarik Kurdi, the representative of the UN's refugee agency in Syria

He said the UN estimated that five million Syrians have been displaced inside the country. A further two million have fled to neighbouring countries, according to previous UN figures. The total, of about seven million, amounts to nearly one third of Syria's population of about 23 million when the conflict began.

Syria's brutal two-and-a-half-year-old conflict has also claimed more than 100,000 lives, including hundreds who - according to the US and others - were killed in chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime near Damascus on Aug 21.