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Syria: Dozens dead in suspected Russian airstrikes

January 4, 2018

At least 30 civilians, including children, have been killed in shelling attacks and airstrikes in the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta. A monitor has said a majority of the strikes were carried out by Russian jets.

https://p.dw.com/p/2qMHv
Wreckages of collapsed buildings are seen after airstrikes in the besieged town of Arbin in Eastern Ghouta, Syria
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/A. Al Bushy

Syria's government and its Russian allies have upped their bombardment of residential areas in a besieged opposition enclave located outside the capital Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday.

Within the last 24 hours, at least 30 civilians have been killed in airstrikes and shelling attacks in Eastern Ghouta, the head of the Britain-based monitor Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Read more: Medical evacuation comes too late for trapped Syrians

Two buildings were flattened by bombs in the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba on Wednesday, killing 20 and wounding over 40 people, the Observatory and civil defense sources said.

"The region is witnessing unprecedented, intense attacks by artillery shelling, aerial bombardment, and locally-made rockets," Misraba hospital manager Dr. Anas Taleb told the DPA news agency.

The Observatory said Russian jets carried out the strikes in Misraba.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said that opposition shelling of Damascus, which is under government control, killed one person and wounded another 22 on Thursday.

Read more: Syrian boy inspires solidarity for besieged civilians

The siege of Eastern Ghouta

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, have intensified military operations in Eastern Ghouta in recent months in an attempt to expel opposition fighters there.

Read more: Syria conflict: What do the US, Russia, Turkey and Iran want?

A total of 400,000 people in Eastern Ghouta have been largely cut off from humanitarian aid since 2013, which aid workers say is a deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war.

The United Nations has said people in the area face a "complete catastrophe" due to blocked aid deliveries and that hundreds of people require medical evacuation.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denies the charges.

Russia also rejects accusations that its jets have been involved in strikes that have killed civilians, saying that it only carries out attacks against hardline Islamists. Last month, Russian officials said they completed a partial troop withdrawal ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read more: Syrian opposition rejects Russian-backed Sochi peace talks

rs/rc (AFP, dpa, Reuters)