New air strikes hit Damascus suburb
More than 250,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Syria’s 5-year-old war
The United Nations aid chief yesterday condemned attacks on civilians in and near the Syrian capital as “unacceptable,” a day after more than 50 were killed.
“Such indiscriminate attacks are unacceptable,” Stephen O’Brien said in a press conference concluding a three-day visit to Syria. More than 50 civilians were killed on Sunday in air strikes and rocket fire on an opposition stronghold east of Damascus and in rebel fire on the capital.
Oposition activists say Syrian government helicopter gunships continued strikes on Monday. Two activist groups - the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees - say Monday’s strikes targeted the southwestern suburb of Daraya.
There was no immediate word on casualties.
Syria’s state-run news agency and residents said Sunday’s air strikes followed volleys of mortar shells fired into Damascus by rebels in the area that had killed three people, including a child, and wounded 33.
The suburb known as Eastern Ghouta is held by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Al Assad. The fighters often launch mortars into Damascus, Al Assad’s seat of power.
Sunday’s barrage was particularly strong and sustained, shaking residents out of bed in the early morning as shells struck residential districts.
O’Brien is visiting Damascus to review humanitarian work and assess the impact on civilians of the intensified fighting and military operations.
Following a meeting with Foreign Minister Walid Al Mu’allem, O’Brien said he was pursuing efforts to have humanitarian aid reach all Syrian people. Al Mu’allem, according to SANA, emphasized the need for reconciliation and local truces to help in that regard.
More than 250,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Syria’s nearly fiveyear old conflict, which has left the country divided and devastated.