Over 500 killed in Syria’s worst attack
THE death toll in eastern Ghouta, Syria, had climbed to more than 500 and thousands had been injured, Doctors Without Borders said.
It said that nearly a week into one of the most fierce assaults in Syria’s long civil war; 520 people were killed before a delayed UN vote on a ceasefire to allow medical and food aid to reach civilians.
Many of the bombing raids have targeted medical buildings and doctors in the remaining facilities are struggling to keep up with the stream of patients.
The scale of the attacks from barrel bombs and other missiles made it hard to find and count the dead, rescuers said.
The civil defence rescue service, the White Helmets, said it had documented at least 350 deaths in the first four days.
“Maybe there are many more,” Siraj Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the group, said.
“We weren’t able to count the martyrs yesterday, or the day before because the warplanes are touring the skies.”
Most people who had escaped death or injury were hiding in underground bunkers with little or no electricity and low food supplies.
“The situation is disastrous, kids haven’t eaten for two days in a row,” one activist said. “The adults might be able to endure, but the kids can’t.
“We have large numbers of babies under the age of six months lacking formula, whose mothers (don’t have milk) to breastfeed them.”
Doctors and medical activists from around the world called for an end to the violence, protection for civilians and greater action from the UN.
The group represented medical centres from Harvard to Britain’s Royal Free hospital, Panzi hospital in the DRC and the Syrian American Medical Society.
“Inaction in the face of unrelenting attacks on civilians represents an epic failure of world leaders.”
The appeal condemned “patterns of attacks, which predominantly target civilian areas, and demonstrate a position that all civilians in opposition-held areas are legitimate targets”.
On Friday, the UN security council failed to agree on a proposed 30-day ceasefire across Syria because of Russian objections.
Intense talks at the UN headquarters followed a direct appeal by French and German leaders to Vladimir Putin for Russia to support a ceasefire, but a vote was pushed back several times as talks stalled.
In an apparent attempt to win Moscow’s support, Kuwait and Sweden, sponsors of the draft resolution, dropped a demand for the ceasefire to take effect 72 hours after the resolution passed.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, has said an immediate ceasefire is unrealistic. – The Guardian.