UN calls for stop to ‘hell on Earth’ in Syria
BEIRUT — Syrian forces launched a ground offensive Monday on a rebel-held eastern Damascus suburb despite a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire across Syria. The UN chief denounced the violence in the embattled region, describing it as “hell on Earth.” The offensive was accompanied by airstrikes that killed at least 14 people, according to opposition activists, and the new fighting in eastern Ghouta did not bode well for the resolution adopted over the weekend at the UN. There was a relative calm in the besieged area in the immediate aftermath of the resolution, which was unanimously approved Saturday by the 15-member council. It demands a 30-day truce in all of Syria but excludes fighting with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked fighters. However, violence has since picked up with 28 people in the area killed in airstrikes and bombardments on Sunday and Monday, activists said. Russian news agencies said Monday that President Vladimir Putin has ordered a daily “humanitarian pause” in eastern Ghouta. Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a statement the pauses will start as of Tuesday. He said Russia will work to create a “humanitarian corridor” to help evacuate the area but said the location has not been decided yet. Shoigu also mentioned a refugee camp in Tanf, near the border with Iraq which is “under U.S. control” — where Russia is also suggesting calling for a humanitarian pause as well. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the warring sides to abide by the ceasefire. Speaking at the start of a session of the UN-backed Human Rights Council, the comments were his first remarks to the UN body since the resolution was adopted. “Eastern Ghouta cannot wait,” he said. “It is high time to stop this hell on Earth.” Guterres said he welcomes the resolution but added that council resolutions “are only meaningful if they are effectively implemented.” He added that he expects the “resolution to be immediately implemented and sustained” and also called for safe, unimpeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and services, as well as evacuations of the sick and wounded. At the Geneva gathering, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein echoed calls for a “full implementation” of the truce but said that “however, we have every reason to remain cautious” about the cease-fire as airstrikes continue on Damascus suburbs. He also decried “seven years of failure to stop the violence, seven years of unremitting and frightful mass killing” in Syria.