Syrian regime attacks in Eastern Ghouta kill 30

At least 30 civilians were killed and dozens injured in bombings carried out by Syrian military aircraft against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, a British war monitor group said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the regime bombings targeted civilians fleeing their homes in the region of Zamalka towards the town of Hazza in Eastern Ghouta, which is controlled by al-Rahman Corps Islamist rebel group fighting against government forces, Efe news reported.

The SOHR said the bombings also targeted Kafr Batna, where 64 people were killed by Russia on Friday.

Since an escalation of violence in Eastern Ghouta on February 18, a total of 1,394 civilians, including 271 minors and 173 women, have been killed, according to the monitor.

The Syrian Army, which is carrying out a ground offensive in the region, claimed on Friday that it had captured 70 per cent of the rebel enclave.

Despite that advance, violent clashes were still ongoing between the forces loyal to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the al-Rahman Corps group, according to SOHR.

The monitor said some 10,000 civilians, including hundreds of women and children, fled on Saturday morning from areas controlled by the al-Rahman Corps to regions taken by the Syrian regime through the corridor opened by the government authorities in Hamouriyah.

With such figures, the number of displaced people increased to 40,000 people who have left their homes since Friday night in Eastern Ghouta, the SOHR said.

--IANS

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