Syrian Government Recaptures Half Of Eastern Ghouta Amid Intense Bombardment

Syrian government forces aided by its allies have managed to capture half of the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Despite calls for a ceasefire, the government has used intense shelling and air raids to attack the region which is the last such holdout against government forces close to the capital city of Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said pro-Syrian government forces had now control of a strip of territory linking the north and south of Eastern Ghouta within firing range, effectively bisecting the densely populated region on the outskirts of Damascus.

"Regime forces control more than 50% of Ghouta," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency. There was no immediate confirmation of this from the rebels or Syrian government.

According to latest figures, the ferocious attack by Syrian regime-led forces in Eastern Ghouta has killed at least 850 people. Many of the victims are children. The offensive against the Eastern Ghouta, home to about 400,000 people, began on 18 February.

The state-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV station on Wednesday broadcast live shots from the region, showing dense columns of smoke rising above the town as explosions and jets could be heard flying overhead. Syrian state media said troops took control of the town of Beit Sawa and most of Misraba, both rebel-held communities in the heart of the enclave. Reports also came in of civilians fleeing these towns to head to Douma, the last big town holding out against the government.

Experts say that by slicing the territory, the Syrian government succeeds in severing supply routes and squeezing the rebels further inside the enclave.

In New York, the UN Security Council will again gather to discuss the failure of a ceasefire it had demanded last week. It passed a resolution on 24 February demanding a 30-day truce across Syria but the government and its key ally Russia say it does not apply to some of the rebel groups holding the enclave.

In Geneva, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein denounced what he said were attempts by Syria’s government to justify indiscriminate, brutal attacks on hundreds of thousands of civilians by the need to combat a few hundred fighters in eastern Ghouta, calling it “legally and morally unsustainable”.

“When you are prepared to kill your own people, lying is easy too. Claims by the government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are frankly ridiculous,” he said. People in the Eastern Ghouta, he said, faced an "apocalypse intended, planned and executed by individuals within the Government, apparently with the full backing of some of their foreign supporters. It is urgent to reverse this catastrophic course, and to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 08, 2018 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).