Ghouta aid postponed as Syria regime presses assault
AID agencies postponed a convoy of vital food and health supplies to Eastern Ghouta yesterday, as the Syrian regime pressed a ground and air assault against the rebel enclave.
Dozens of people, including many children, were treated overnight for breathing problems and symptoms that medics said were consistent with chlorine attacks, which Western powers have repeatedly warned would not go unpunished.
New airstrikes on the town of Zamalka killed at least seven civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, bringing the total number of dead in the attack to over 900.
The aid trucks were meant to bring relief to civilians living under government siege for five years and now facing a deadly Russian-backed assault.
The fighting has prompted international outrage, culminating in the UN Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire, aid deliveries and evacuations. But with bombardment continuing, a joint convoy between the United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent planned for yesterday could not go through.
“The convoy for today is postponed, as the situation is evolving on the ground, which doesn’t allow us to carry out the operation in such conditions,” ICRC spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said.
Ghouta is home to around 400,000 people under siege and is the last opposition-controlled zone on the capital’s outskirts. The Syrian army and allied militias began a bombing campaign on February 18 against Ghouta, followed by a ground offensive.
The campaign has so far recaptured half of rebel-held territory, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based monitor. Regime forces are on the verge of cutting the remaining rebel-held territory into two isolated pockets.
Dozens of civilians were treated in the town for breathing difficulties late onWednesday, with medics reporting symptoms consistent with a toxic attack.
Doctors at one facility treated at least 29 patients with signs of exposure to chlorine, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports hospitals in Eastern Ghouta.
It said victims were suffering from shortness of breath, wheezing, and redness of the eyes.
Families were seen trying to reach fresh air onWednesday on a roof in Hammuriyeh, after strikes on their neighbourhood. Parents had stripped their children down and were spraying them with water, fearing toxic substances had been absorbed into their clothes.
The UN’s humanitarian coordination office said the aid could not go through yesterday as it had not received permission from Syrian authorities.
“Today, the UN and partners were not able to return to Douma in east Ghouta because the movement of the convoy was not authorised by the Syrian authorities due to security reasons,” said spokeswoman Linda Tom.