Étiqueté : Eastern

The UN’s human rights chief has warned that strikes on Syria’s Eastern Ghouta probably amount to « war crimes » and that those behind the targeting of civilians will be held to account. « I must emphasise that what we are seeing, in Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere in Syria, are likely war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity, »…

Gaziantep, Turkey – Al Jazeera has obtained satellite imagery from areas inside Eastern Ghouta, showing the destruction continuous government bombardment has caused. The Damascus suburb has been targeted by relentless attacks since the Syrian government, aided by Russia, launched an air offensive on the largely rural area outside the capital on February 18. The comparative…

A five-hour « humanitarian pause » called by Russia has come into effect in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta to allow civilians to evacuate the area that has been under continuous aerial bombardment. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had ordered a truce from 9am-2pm (7:00-12:00 GMT) on Tuesday, as air strikes and ground operations killed more than 550 civilians in…

Health officials in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta are accusing Syrian government forces of using poisonous gas in their aerial bombardment campaign in the Damascus suburb. Syria’s Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said on Sunday that women and children in the town of Al-Shifoniyah were experiencing difficulty breathing. At least one child…

Syrian government forces have launched a ground and air offensive in Eastern Ghouta, witnesses said, hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces began fighting opposition groups from multiple fronts in the rebel enclave near Damascus, while Syrian warplanes…

More than 400 people have been killed in Eastern Ghouta, a monitoring group said, on the fifth day of the continuing onslaught of aerial bombardment by Syrian government forces backed by Russian warplanes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 403 people were killed in the « hysterical attack » that began on Sunday, including…

An international aid convoy has delivered food and humanitarian supplies to a besieged, rebel-held area near Damascus, the first such distribution to reach Syria’s Eastern Ghouta since late November. The convoy delivered supplies to « over 7,000 civilians for a month » in the town of Nashabiyah, about 19km east of Damascus, on Wednesday, said Jakob Kern,…

Russian and Syrian government forces have killed at least 110 civilians over the past 48 hours in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital Damascus, according to residents and monitoring groups. On Monday, 30 civilians were killed in air raids; on the following day, 80 more were killed. At least 22 children and 21 women…

Syrian activists have accused Bashar al-Assad’s regime of violating a fragile ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta, the last remaining rebel stronghold near the capital, Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least five rocket and artillery shells targeted the besieged enclave in the early hours of Saturday, shortly after a Russian-negotiated ceasefire had come into effect. Mohammed Alloush, a senior…

A Russian-negotiated ceasefire has gone into effect in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, the last remaining rebel stronghold near the capital, Damascus. The truce, which started Saturday, is expected to bring temporary relief to an estimated 400,000 people in the area suffering from acute food and medicine shortages. Eastern Ghouta has been under a government siege since…