UN chief hits out at failure to implement cease-fire in Syria as violence continues

The Syrian army on Monday secured the evacuation of civilians from recently-captured areas in the capital Damascus’ eastern Ghouta countryside, state news agency SANA reported.

The residents were cleared from the town of Medyara, which was stormed by the Syrian army on Sunday.

The Russian Defense Ministry put the number of civilians evacuated from eastern Ghouta over the past few days at 76.

However, no major civilian evacuation took place through the designated humanitarian corridors, such as the one in the Wafidin area in northeastern Damascus close to the rebel-held town of Douma in eastern Ghouta or in Mlaiha, southeast of the capital, Xinhua reported.

SANA accused the rebels of preventing the civilians from leaving.

The situation in eastern Ghouta has flared up since late last month when the Syrian army began an operation to dislodge the al-Qaidalinked groups from the area.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-squarekilometer agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmland, poses the last threat to the capital due to its proximity to government-controlled neighborhoods east of Damascus and ongoing mortar attacks that target residential

Russia and Syria insisted that a cease-fire ordered by the Security Council should not protect fighters in eastern Ghouta, arguing that they are members of terrorist groups.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned on Monday that Washington “remains prepared to act if we must”, if the Security Council fails to act on Syria, as the Syrian army’s advance in eastern Ghouta continued unabated, Reuters reported.

The United States asked the Security Council to demand an immediate 30-day cease-fire in Damascus and eastern Ghouta.

The US bombed a Syrian government air base last year over a claimed chemical weapons attack.

However, Zhang Fan, a researcher from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Haley’s warning is aimed at pressing Russia, and the US is not likely to start a new round of largescale military actions.

Zhang said the future Syrian situation will continue to be influenced by the US and Russia, but they both will try to avoid direct conflict. Shao Binglin and Xinhua contributed to this story.