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Govt forces hit Ghouta despite ceasefire

March 01, 2018 21:12·
US-led coalition

US-led coalition

The armed groups had been carrying out provocations for some five hours by conducting shelling around every 30 minutes, the general said, noting that the Syrian government forces observed the humanitarian pause and did not respond to the incitement.

The world's chemical weapons watchdog opened an investigation on Sunday into attacks in the besieged, rebel-held Syrian region of eastern Ghouta to determine whether banned munitions had been used, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

Syrian defenses say on Monday, a suspected chemical attack killed a child and injured 18 others in Eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta, where the United Nations says around 400,000 people live, is a major target for Assad, whose forces have clawed back numerous areas with military backing from Russian Federation and Iran.

Although the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously February 24 for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, government forces continued their weeklong offensive against the rebel-held suburb of Ghouta.

Moscow and Damascus accuse rebels of attacking this humanitarian corridor to prevent civilians from leaving.

The so-called Jaish al-Islam Takfiri militant group stationed in the Damascus suburb denied the recent shelling.

Russia Monday said it would establish a truce lasting for five hours a day, starting Tuesday.

But the spokesman for the UN's humanitarian office, Jens Laerke, told a press conference in Geneva that he had received reports of fresh clashes in Eastern Ghouta early Tuesday, meaning humanitarian aid convoys could not enter the blockaded zone, Efe news reported.

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"Russia said Monday it wasn't prepared to implement a cease-fire in Syria endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, even as European and USA officials demanded an immediate end to the fighting".

Seven-year war: More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2011 following a government crackdown on protesters calling for the release of political prisoners and for President Bashar Assad to step down.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that the UN-mandated truce would "start when all sides of the conflict agree on how to introduce it".

"Forcing civilians to leave or face death under bombardment and siege constitutes a Russian crime", its spokesman Wael Alwan said on Twitter.

Alluding to these fighters, who operate under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Votel said, "our partners on the ground in Syria have advanced us a long way toward our objectives, and we will stick with them through the completion of this fight", referring to the goal of eliminating the Islamic State's shrinking hold on Syrian territory.

The Western media, however, place the blame for the situation in eastern Ghouta exclusively on Damascus and Moscow. Russian Federation is killing us and bombing us every day.

Beirut/Geneva: A Russian call for a five-hour truce on Tuesday failed to halt one of the most devastating campaigns of the Syrian war, where residents said government warplanes resumed striking the eastern Ghouta region on Tuesday after a brief lull.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the resolution needed to be implemented immediately, warning: "Eastern Ghouta can not wait".

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