Rebels fight to retake Syrian area

Aid trucks unable to enter Eastern Ghouta as clashes on the ground intensify

FIGHTING rocked Syria’s Eastern Ghouta yesterday as rebels battled to retake territory seized in a devastating regime assault on the last major opposition enclave near Damascus.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad launched the assault earlier this month with waves of air strikes, artillery fire and rocket attacks that are reported to have left more than 640 civilians dead.

Under growing international pressure to end the bloodshed, regime backer Russia last week announced daily five-hour humanitarian pauses in the enclave, but while the air campaign has eased, fighting has intensified on the ground.

Regime forces engaged in clashes with rebels in the east of the enclave yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, after advances in recent days saw the regime seize control of 10% of the region.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory, said at least 12 regime fighters had been killed in two areas, Al-Rihan and Shifoniya, in overnight clashes with the Jaish al-Islam rebel group.

Jaish al-Islam shares control of rebel-held parts of Eastern Ghouta with Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham.

Damascus and Moscow say they are trying to clear the area of terrorists.

Jaish al-Islam spokesman Hamza Bayraqdar said on Twitter that the group’s forces had launched surprise attacks against regime positions.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground to monitor Syria’s civil war, said rebels had retaken some parts of Shifoniya.

An AFP correspondent inside Eastern Ghouta saw hundreds of civilians fleeing from the town of Beit Sawa in the southeast of the enclave yesterday.

The Observatory said about 2 000 civilians had fled regime shelling and clashes in eastern parts of the enclave.

On Saturday, 18 civilians, including three children, were killed in regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, according to the Observatory.

At least 76 pro-regime fighters and 43 rebels from Jaish al-Islam had also been killed in clashes since February 25, it said.

Encircled by regime-controlled territory and unable or unwilling to flee, Eastern Ghouta’s 400 000 residents have in recent weeks suffered one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria’s civil war.

Under siege since 2013, they had already been facing severe shortages of food and medicine.

Overburdened medical workers have been struggling to cope with the rising number of wounded.

While falling short of a 30-day ceasefire demanded by the United Nations, the announcement of daily humanitarian pauses in fighting had raised hopes of some aid deliveries and evacuations.

But trucks loaded with aid have so far been unable to enter the enclave, according to the UN.

Moscow has offered safe passage to non-combatants wishing to leave the enclave during the pause, but no Syrian civilians have left since the first break in fighting took effect on Tuesday last week, the Observatory said.

The Russian military said no civilians exited via the established corridor on Saturday.

Damascus and Moscow have accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving.

French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed grave concern about the humanitarian situation in a telephone conversation late on Saturday.