Regime sends more forces to Ghouta

MIDDLE EAST

douma (syria) — Syria’s regime sent reinforcements to Eastern Ghouta on Wednesday, tightening the noose around the shrinking rebel enclave as the UN Security Council met to discuss the escalating violence.

The blistering onslaught has prompted outrage against the regime, with the United Nations’ human rights chief accusing the government of orchestrating an “apocalypse” in Syria.

Heavy air strikes battered several key towns in the zone on Wednesday, as Syria’s government dispatched hundreds of pro-government militiamen to the front.

“At least 700 Afghan, Palestinian, and Syrian loyalist militiamen came from Aleppo and were sent late Tuesday to Ghouta,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based war monitor said the reinforcements were deployed to two battlefronts on the western side of the enclave.

Government troops in military vehicles were seen on Wednesday patrolling Al Mohammadiyeh, an agricultural zone in the southern part of Ghouta recently retaken by the regime.

Government troops on Wednesday seized the town of Beit Sawa and were within firing range of another, Misraba. They had also taken up positions at the edges of Jisreen and Hammuriyeh.

Wednesday’s bombardment left at least 12 civilians dead including one child.