Diplomatic haggling delays UN vote on Syria ceasefire

DOUMA, Syria: Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday killing 38 civilians, as world powers struggled to reach a UN deal to stop the carnage.

More than 460 civilians, including over 100 children, have been killed in nearly a week of bombardment that has been one of the seven-year conflict’s bloodiest episodes.

Diplomatic haggling delayed a vote at the United Nations Security Council on a 30-day truce, with Kuwait’s Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi, who holds the council presidency, saying “we are very close” to agreement with Russia, Syria’s ally.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet at noon (1700 GMT) Saturday to vote on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire, but it remained unclear whether Russia will veto the proposed measure.

Amid the wrangling, US President Donald Trump slammed the actions of the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian supporters as a “humanitarian disgrace.”

Few of Eastern Ghouta’s nearly 400,000 residents – mostly living in a scattering of towns across the semi-rural area east of the capital – ventured out on Friday.

An AFP correspondent in Douma, the enclave’s main town, saw a handful of people stealthily crossing rubble-strewn streets to assess damage to their property or look for food and water.

The bombing has been relentless since government and allied forces intensified their campaign on Sunday and rocket fire soon forced everybody to run for cover.

Exhausted and famished families cowered in cramped and damp basements, exchanging information on the latest casualties of the government’s blitz.

Fresh strikes by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally, killed at least 38 civilians, including 11 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The latest deaths brought to 468 the number of people killed – among them 108 children – since the escalation of the bombardment of the besieged area on Feb 18. More than 2,000 people have been wounded.

Rebels have been firing back into the capital Damascus, where a hospital was hit, the official Syrian news agency SANA said.

At the UN, US Ambassador Nikki Haley expressed dismay as negotiations dragged on to secure Russian approval for the ceasefire that would allow humanitarian aide deliveries and medical evacuations. — AFP

People inspect missile remains in the besieged town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria. — Reuters photo

Smoke billows following a regime air strike on the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. — AFP photo

Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya speaks with Syrian Arab Republic Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari after a vote was postponed by the United Nations Security Council demanding a truce in Syria at the United Nations headquarters in New...