UN votes for Syrian truce after Russia backs down

THE United Nations Security Council last night voted for a 30-day ceasefire across Syria after relentless bombing by President Assad’s forces of the country’s Ghouta enclave near Damascus killed hundreds of civilians.

A unanimous vote was pushed through after Russia – which had backed the bombing – finally agreed to support the move after dropping an earlier demand for a 72-hour delay to the ceasefire.

A seven-day surge of rocket fire, shelling and air strikes has killed more than 500 people since Sunday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The dead included more than 120 children.

The Security Council approved a resolution demanding a 30-day truce to allow aid deliveries and evacuations after a flurry of last-minute negotiations.

Following the UN vote, Swedish ambassador Olof Skoog said the humanitarian convoys ‘are ready to go’.

But rescuers in Ghouta warned the bombing would not let up long enough for them to count the bodies after one of the bloodiest air assaults of the seven-year war.

Medical charities have reported attacks on a dozen hospitals but the Damascus government and Russia, its key ally, say they only target militants. They have accused insurgents in Ghouta of holding people as human shields.

Around 400,000 people are in hiding as the rebel-held suburb crumbles around them.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, condemned Russia, Syria and Iran, saying: ‘As they dragged out the negotiation, the bombs from Assad’s jets continued to fall. In the three days it took us to adopt this resolution, how many mothers lost their kids?’