Russia-ordered ‘pause’ goes into effect east of Damascus

A brief, Russia-ordered “humanitarian pause” went into effect on Tuesday as Syrian and Russian forces set up a corridor to allow civilians to leave a rebelheld enclave near Damascus, but by the end of the five-hour pause, no civilians had crossed over from the embattled territory.

The lull gave a brief respite to the estimated 400,000 residents of besieged eastern Ghouta, which has been under intense attack by the Syrian government for weeks.

The United Nations and aid workers criticized the unilateral arrangement, saying the situation was not such that convoys can go in or people in need of medical evacuations can come out of the enclave.

The enclave’s residents also fear their region would meet the same fate as the eastern, rebelheld half of the city of Aleppo, where a similar Russian-ordered pause in 2016 called on residents to evacuate the area and for gunmen to lay down their arms. A full ground assault followed, finally bringing Aleppo under government control.

Footage on Tuesday from a crossing point manned by the Syrian military between eastern Ghouta and Damascus showed preparations were underway to allow civilians to leave, including small buses waiting at a parking area and soldiers milling about. Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said a restaurant was also set up there, but there were no signs of anyone emerging.

Russia’s state news agency Tass said Russian military police on the ground have set up the humanitarian corridor with the Syrian troops.

The Wafideen crossing point is near Douma, one of the largest towns in eastern Ghouta, and is about 20 kilometres from the centre of Damascus.

Al-Ikhbariya’s journalist on the ground said mortar shells had targeted the crossing, preventing civilians from leaving. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim. A least a couple of mortars were heard as the broadcast was live, some appeared to be outgoing from government areas.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, said about five shells from government areas fell on the enclave. One shell fell in an area where the government had began a ground offensive and it was not clear if it was fired by the government or the rebels.