Assad regime attacks kill 38 civilians in Syria’s E. Ghouta

Adham Kako

EASTERN GHOUTA: At least 38 civilians were killed on Monday by Assad regime forces in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district, according to local civil-defense sources.

The regime has continued to conduct ground and air attacks in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, despite separate ceasefire initiatives endorsed by Russia and the UN Security Council.

According to the White Helmets, a local civil-defense agency, 11 civilians were killed Monday by regime airstrikes and missile attacks in the district’s Jisreen neighborhood.

At least 27 more civilians were killed the same day by regime air and ground attacks in the Duma and Harasta neighborhoods and in the towns of Hammuriyah, Harasta, Saqba, Semelka, Kafr Batna, Beit Sawa, Misraba and Al-Ashari.

On Saturday, regime forces and allied militias advanced into several opposition-held areas, capturing the town of al-Nashabiya and the villages of Otaya and Hazrama.

Since Feb. 19, at least 794 people have been killed in Eastern Ghouta and the death toll is expected to rise further as attacks by the regime remain ongoing.

Home to some 400,000 people, Eastern Ghouta has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years.Within the last eight months, regime forces have stepped up their siege. (AA)