United Nations pleads for end to killing in Damascus
As the besieged rebel enclave of eastern Ghouta in Damascus prepared for a fifth straight day of bombing, the UN has demanded an end to the violence, which it called “hell on earth”.
“Eastern Ghouta cannot wait,“Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting.
“This is a human tragedy that is unfolding in front of our eyes and I don’t think we can let things go on happening in this horrendous way,” he continued.
“There is a need for avoiding the massacre, because we will be judged by history,” the UN’s Syria envoy
Staffan de Mistura added.
Sweden and Kuwait have called for a vote on a resolution ordering a 30 day ceasefire throughout the country and the immediate delivery of aid to millions of people in need.
At least 346 people have been killed in eastern Ghouta since Sunday, when Syrian President Bashar al Assad and his Russian allies launched one of the fiercest air assaults in the entire seven-year-old conflict.
Pictures and video emerging from the area show horrendous levels of suffering for Ghouta’s 400,000 residents, already starving thanks to a five-year-long siege. Children cry out for their parents, covered in blood and choking on dust.
“People are hiding under the ground in tunnels, building new ones,” resident Wasim Khatib said. “But there is no escape. It is useless.”
Hospitals are so overwhelmed patients are being treated on floors covered in blood. A staggering 22 medical facilities have been damaged by the strikes, further hindering medical workers’ ability to help treat the injured.
“They have started to use barrel bombs ... God is the only one who can help us now,” Dr Malik of a local hospital said.
The UN’s children’s fund Unicef issued a blank statement in response to the bloodshed, saying that “no words” did justice to the loss of life in Ghouta.
Despite vocal opposition from the UN and several Western governments, however, many in eastern Ghouta are skeptical the international community will be able to meaningly intervene in the conflict.
Russia, which came to the Assad government’s aid in 2015, turning the course of the war in the regime’s favour, has historically vetoed all UN resolutions in the conflict.
Both Moscow and Iran - Syria’s other key ally - said they are seeking a political rather than military solution to the situation.
Ghouta is technically part of a de-escalation agreement brokered by foreign powers last year. Mr Assad, however, says that jihadist-linked groups in the area are not part of the deal.
At least one faction in eastern Ghouta has links to al-Qaeda, but its presence is believed to be small. Syrian state media reported that recent peace talks with the rebels had failed.
Damascus proper has also faced some of the severest attacks out of eastern Ghouta in years, with rocket strikes killing at least six people over the last few days.