Muhammed Muheisen / AP Girls who fled their homes with their families peek out of their makeshift school at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 10, 2012. ATMEH, Syria (AP) - This tent camp sheltering Syrians uprooted by their country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: The ground under white tents is soaked in mud, fights erupt over scarce blankets and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. The 21-month-old battle to bring down President Bashar Assad has already forced some 3 million Syrians from their homes, according to a new estimate, and cold, wet winter weather is making life increasingly unbearable for the displaced. Many of the roughly 12,000 people seeking refuge in the tent camp near the Syrian village of Atmeh on the Turkish border fled with just the clothes on their backs, running from intensifying bombing raids by the Syrian air force in recent months. Full story... EDITOR'S NOTE: all images made available to NBC News on Dec. 11. Children gather around a vehicle to get pillows and blankets distributed at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 10. Children stand at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 11. A woman cooks for her family outside her tent at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 11. A boy walks back to his tent at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 10.