Ghouta under attack again as evacuation stalls

DEADLY air strikes slammed into the last opposition-held town in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, yesterday for the first time in over a week, after talks stalled over a rebel withdrawal.

Backed by Russia, Syrian troops had captured all of Ghouta, except for the town of Douma, which is held by the Jaish al-islam Islamist faction. Amid confusion over an evacuation deal for opposition groups, 4,000 fighters and relatives left the town on Monday before the withdrawal was halted.

“There have been 24 air strikes on residential areas in Douma,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the British-based monitor. He said 32 people, including seven children, had been killed and around 50 others wounded.

SANA, Syria’s state news agency, said Syrian air strikes hit the town yesterday in response to rebel mortar fire from Douma that had wounded seven people near the capital Damascus.