Peace far away as showdown approaches Syria’s Eastern Ghouta
SYRIA - The rebel-held Eastern Ghouta in the countryside of Syrian capital Damascus has witnessed intense airstrikes and shelling as military showdown is approaching.
The spark of the recent unprecedented violence was ignited a couple of months ago when al-Qaida-linked groups launched an offensive against a key military base in the city of Harasta in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, prompting a counter military offensive in that area. The attacks at the times were coupled with rebels shelling of the capital Damascus, and Syrian airstrikes targeting the rebel positions in Eastern Ghouta. But the situation has dramatically worsened in recent days when a wide-scale military offensive on Eastern Ghouta was in place, preparing to end the presence of al-Qaida-linked groups in that area. The rebels’ mortar shells have rained down Damascus so heavily that life has been largely paralyzed in the Damascus’ eastern neighborhoods near Eastern Ghouta. People cower at home, fearing they could end up dead outside from one of the blind mortars. The hospitals in Damascus, mainly those close to the east, have been jam-packed with wounded people and children. Moreover, residents in eastern Damascus have refrained from sending their kids to the schools, as three children were killed on Tuesday when a mortar shell struck their school in central Damascus.
The eastern neighborhoods of Damascus, including in the old city that had just regained some of its lost glamour and life, are now eerily empty while ambulances’ sirens are wailing in the surroundings. Last weekend the Syrian army amassed forces at the outskirts of Eastern Ghouta and started heavily shelling the rebel positions in Eastern Ghouta with artillery and airstrikes that could be clearly heard across the capital. But the situation is not easy, as around 350,000 civilians are still living in Eastern Ghouta, which is a large countryside constituting of several towns and villages under the rebel control. Eastern Ghouta has for long been the major threat to the capital Damascus, with rebels, including al-Qaida-linked ones, launching several attacks to infiltrate the capital.
(Xinhua)