After U.N. action, 6 die in Syria capital, suburbs
BEIRUT — Despite a drop in intensity, shelling and bombardment in the Syrian capital and its embattled eastern suburbs killed at least six people Sunday following the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous approval of a resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire across Syria, opposition activists and residents of Damascus said.
Attacks on residential areas appear to have shifted to strikes on front lines where some of the most intense fighting took place throughout the day between government forces and their allies against insurgents. State media said that troops pushed into the eastern suburbs, reports that the opposition denied.
Opposition activists reported clashes on the southern edge of the rebel-held suburbs, known as eastern Ghouta, and two airstrikes late on Saturday night, shortly after the resolution was adopted. During the day Sunday, more shelling and airstrikes were reported in eastern Ghouta and Damascus.
The drop in violence came after a week of intense airstrikes and shelling that killed more than 500 people in eastern Ghouta and left dozens dead or wounded in the government-held Damascus, which rebels pelted with mortar shells.
“This has been the calmest night since last Sunday,” said Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, referring to the start of the bombing campaign on Feb. 19.
Syrian state TV said the army captured several buildings in the rebel-held suburb of Harasta and pushed into other areas in eastern Ghouta that is besieged by government forces. It also said troops captured three small towns.
The Ghouta Media Center, an activist collective, said members of the Army of Islam insurgent group repelled the Syrian army’s attacks on several fronts, adding that were killed.
The push by the army, although still limited, appears to be similar to steps taken in rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo that government forces captured one after another until rebels eventually agreed to leave the city in December 2016, marking President Bashar Assad’s biggest victory since the conflict began in 2011.
“The Assad regime and his allies have shown no respect to the Security Council by launching their most intense offensive on Ghouta from several directions hours after the resolution was adopted,” said Ghouta-based many soldiers activist Ahmad Khanshour. He added that government forces “did not succeed in advancing one meter.” State news agency SANA said insurgents breached the truce by firing 15 shells Sunday on government-held areas on the edge of Ghouta.