New military blitz targets Syrian rebels

Deadly bombardments pounded the last opposition holdout in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, after regime troops resumed a military blitz to pressure rebels to withdraw.

Backed up by Russia’s firepower, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has ousted his armed opponents from nearly all of Ghouta, their last stronghold on the edge of the capital.

The regime used the fierce military onslaught and two negotiated withdrawals to empty 95 per cent of the enclave, but rebels are still entrenched in the town of Douma.