Nearly 200 dead in Ghouta ‘bloodbath’

BRUSSELS: Syria’s main opposition group on Tuesday condemned a government offensive in Eastern Ghouta as a “bloodbath” and a “war crime”, saying it may pull out of Un-backed peace talks in protest.

Three days of air strikes, rockets and artillery fire have left nearly 200 civilians dead in the rebel-held enclave near Damascus, with 13 children killed on Tuesday morning alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Nasr al-hariri, president of the Syrian Negotiation Commission said it was clear the Damascus government had “zero interest to engage” in dialogue.

“The Syrian regime with the direct support of Russia and Iran have turned Ghouta into a bloodbath of innocent women and children,” Hariri said in Brussels.

“What’s happening in Ghouta is a war crime. International law is very clear on the matter but in Syria the implementation of international law doesn’t exist.”

The European Union, which is hosting a conference on Syria in Brussels next month, says the near seven-year war can only be resolved through negotiations.

Brussels wants to see fresh impetus for Un-led talks in Geneva, which have made scant progress in eight rounds.

The UN has warned the situation in Ghouta is “spiralling out of control” and has repeatedly called for a month-long ceasefire across Syria’s front lines, from Eastern Ghouta to the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in the northwest, which Turkey threatened on Tuesday to lay siege to soon.afp