World Bulletin / News Desk

At least 144 people have starved to death at the Yarmouk refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, activists have said.

Rami Al-Sayed, a local activist, told the Anadolu Agency that it has been two weeks since the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has been able to distribute food and assistance inside the camp.

"Conditions in the Yarmouk camp are starting to get worse again," he said, adding that the number of deaths from starvation has risen by 16 from the 128 deaths reported last month as the recent escalation in fighting in Syria's civil war has prevented delivery of food and medical supplies.

The three-year conflict in Syria has internally displaced more than 6.5 million people, according to the UN, and more than two million Syrians are now registered as refugees in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

Homs second largest in number of victims

The Syrian city of Homs is second only to Damascus in the number of people killed during Syria's civil war, according to a London-based human rights group.

The total number of people killed in Homs is 17,812, including 2,047 children and 1,861 women, the group said.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said last that week that Homs had suffered the most casualties of any of the 14 Syrian governorates other than Damascus -- and has had the largest number of victims over the last a year and a half. Homs is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Damascus.

Since Syria's civil war erupted in March 2011, about 150,000 people have died.

Homs was the governorate that suffered the most property damage, as well. About 850,000 buildings have been destroyed, including houses, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, and workshops.

The largest portion of victims who died under torture came from Homs, which has 746 victims that died under torture inside the detention centers.

Homs also has the largest number of women prisoners who died under torture. Thirteen women from Homs are believed to have died under torture out of a total of 31.

Homs has the most cases of sexual abuse by the security forces and militias, especially in Karm Az-Zaitoun, Baba Amrou, and Ar-Refa’ie neighborhoods; out of 7,240 rape cases that involved government forces, Homs alone suffered 1,450. Sexual violence was the primary reason that thousands of Homs families fled the area.