(Reuters) - The number of refugees fleeing Syria could reach 700,000 by the end of the year, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday, far surpassing its previous forecast of 185,000 reached in August.
About 294,000 Syrian refugees fleeing 18 months of conflict in their homeland have already crossed into four neighboring countries - Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey - or await registration there, it said.
"This plan provides for up to 700,000," Panos Moumtzis, regional refugee coordinator for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told a news briefing.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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