197 killed in bombing of rebel enclave
DAMASCUS — Intense shelling and airstrikes targeted the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital Damascus on Monday, as a prelude to a wide-scale offensive by the Syrian army on the key rebel bastion.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 127 people were killed in air raids, rocket strikes and shelling.
At least 197 people have died since the bombing intensified late on Sunday and 850 have been injured, it said.
The government offensive is a prelude to a wide-scale military offensive against various rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta, the last remaining threat to the capital Damascus.
Panos Moumtzis, the United Nations regional coordinator for the Syria crisis, described the situation as an “extreme escalation in hostilities”.
“The humanitarian situation of civilians in East Ghouta is spiraling out of control,” he said in a statement. “Many residents have little choice but to take shelter in basements and underground bunkers with their children.”
The military operation in Eastern Ghouta would help in securing the capital Damascus, as the area is a key bastion of several rebel groups.
The rebel mortar attacks have rained down on the capital Damascus, while the Syrian military’s shelling and airstrikes hit several areas in Eastern Ghouta, prompting the UN to send several appeals for a one-month cessation of hostilities to allow for aid to civilians, with the region home to 400,000 people.
The situation had been calm for a few days before a new escalation on Sunday evening.
Residents in the capital have been calling for the elimination of the rebels’ mortar attacks, which, in many cases, paralyzed the lives of the people in the eastern Damascus neighborhoods.
Four key rebel groups are positioned inside Eastern Ghouta — the Islam Army, Failaq al-Rahman, Ahrar al-Sham and the Levant Liberation Committee, otherwise known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
The UN said last week Syria was seeing some of the worst fighting of the war, which is entering its eighth year. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
Rising violence reportedly pushed some 15,000 civilians to flee their homes last month, taking refuge in makeshift shelters or basements in the enclave, OCHA said.