Bombardment kills 25 civilians in embattled Syria’s Ghouta: monitor

Turkey ramps up assault on Kurdish enclave

BEIRUT, March 14, (Agencies): Bombardment by the Syrian regime and its ally Russia killed 25 civilians, among them three children, in the embattled rebel enclave of eastern Ghouta on Wednesday, a monitor said.

“At least 25 civilians including three children were killed on Wednesday, most of them in regime air strikes and others in Russian raids on an area controlled by Faylaq al-Rahman,” a rebel group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Meanwhile, Turkey turned up the heat on Syria’s Afrin Wednesday, launching deadly strikes on Damascus loyalists deployed around the Kurdish enclave and closing in on its main city.

The development, which could redraw the map of northern Syria as the conflict enters its eighth year, came as Russian-backed regime forces pounded shrinking rebel pockets in eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

Afrin’s encirclement “will have been completed by the evening”, a Turkish presidency source said on Wednesday, toning down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s earlier statement saying it would fall by evening.

Afrin city lies in the heart of a Kurdish-majority enclave against which neighbouring Turkey launched a deadly ground and air offensive on January 20.

Before the retraction, Erdogan had told supporters in Ankara Wednesday he hoped “Afrin will, God willing, have completely fallen by the evening.”

A top official in the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which controls Afrin, laughed off the claim.

“It sounds like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is daydreaming when he says Afrin will fall tonight,” Redur Khalil told AFP.

Turkish and allied forces have almost encircled Afrin city, from which thousands started fleeing when it became apparent Ankara’s goal was nothing short of full capture.

On Wednesday, Turkish bombing raids killed 10 fighters loyal to the regime, which last month deployed pro-government forces after the Kurds asked for help.

“The air strikes targeted a checkpoint on the only road leading from Afrin to regime-controlled territory to the southeast,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Displaced families have swelled the city’s population to around 350,000, and officials feared a humanitarian crisis should Turkish forces draw closer.

Shells rained down on Afrin city on Wednesday, forcing civilians to hide in cellars.

Earlier, dozens of desperate residents were seen lining up outside a

bakery that was distributing free bread.

“Regardless of who will win in the end, as soon as the battle for this small pocket begins, it will mean a massacre against civilians,” said YPG media adviser Rezan Hedo.

On the outskirts of Damascus, hundreds of kilometres (miles) south of Afrin, another humanitarian emergency was unfolding in Eastern Ghouta.

For nearly a month, Moscowbacked Syrian government forces and allied militia have waged a devastating air and ground assault that has killed more than 1,200 civilians.

The United Nations has called for urgent medical evacuations for more than 1,000 people who desperately need medical treatment outside the besieged area.

A trickle of evacuations from Ghouta’s largest town Douma began Tuesday under a deal with rebels, and more patients were allowed out Wednesday.

Dozens awaiting evacuation gathered

at a Red Crescent centre in Douma on Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent reported.

Among them was 18-year-old Omran, who was badly wounded two years ago in bombardment on Ghouta. He was missing his left leg, right arm, and left eye.

They were transported by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to the governmentcontrolled Wafideen checkpoint on the edges of Ghouta.

An AFP correspondent at Wafideen saw around two dozen civilians arrive, including a wheelchair-bound man being helped by Red Crescent volunteers.

The Jaish al-Islam rebel group that controls Douma said around 35 sick and wounded were to be evacuated Wednesday, along with their companions.

The UN Security Council demanded a 30-day truce last month to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations from Ghouta.

Such evacuations in Syria typically

see people taken out of a besieged area for care, and then transported back in after treatment is complete.

The Syrian government’s assault on Ghouta has split the enclave into three sections, each controlled by different rebels.

The regime has reportedly been pursuing separate tracks of negotiations to secure local truces or evacuations from each zone.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday said any evacuations must be carried out “humanely”.

It said evacuees should be allowed freedom of movement, access to medical care, and a safe return to their homes.

A Turkish court has sentenced a man to life in prison for murdering a Syrian opposition activist and her journalist daughter in a crime that shocked the exile community, state media said Wednesday.