Dozens dead as suicide bombers strike at heart of Syrian justice system
Suicide bombers hit the main judicial building and a restaurant in Damascus, killing at least 30 people as the conflict in Syria enters its seventh year.
The first attacker struck by detonating a suicide vest inside the Justice Palace, located near the famous and crowded Hamidiyeh market, was the latest in a spate of explosions and suicide attacks targeting government-controlled areas in Syria and its capital.
Meanwhile, medics say they are struggling to deal with a measles outbreak in the Syrian town of Ghouta, which is currently under bombardment with five hospitals hit in the past nine days.
The union d es organisations de Secours et Soins Médicaux (UOSSM) said there had been 121 cases of the disease in the past two months, compared to 50 cases in the past two years.
The civil war, which began in March 2011, has seen 7.6 million people forced out of their homes within Syria alone and half a million people killed.
The conflict began in March 2011 with a popular uprising against President Bashar al-assad’s rule but quickly descended into a full-blown civil war.
Ghouta, outside Damascus, is one of the most heavily shelled areas in the country at present.
A statement from French organisation UOSSM said: “There is significant pressure on hospitals that are still operating and supplies are running extremely low or completely depleted.
“In Ghouta, in the suburbs of Damascus, a third person died from kidney failure as there are no supplies available to provide dialysis treatment. Medications and supplies are still not allowed in the area.”
Meanwhile, aid charities working with partner organisations in Syria warned that the current ceasefire is “clearly not working”.
Frances Guy, head of Middle East at Christian Aid, said: “Today, six years on, we owe Syrians under siege and under fire, the respect of remembering their daily horrors and urging world leaders to put in that extra effort to bring an end to this suffering.
“The current ceasefire is clearly not working. Syria and the world needs a real ceasefire to help all Syrians breathe a little.”
A White Helmets volunteer separately told of the moment she decided to risk her life to save others in Syria.
Watching a civilian bleed to death on the street in 2013 made Gardenia – one of 100 women volunteering for the organisation, which offers medical care and carries out search and rescue operations – resolve to join the war-torn country’s civil defence.
She said :“his image is always following me – I couldn’t do anything for him. So I joined the field hospital and then the civil defence.”