Syrian government forces capture villages of eastern Ghouta

Forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, have captured six villages and towns bordering the besieged rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, as hopes that a long-planned humanitarian convoy might enter the area were dashed again.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitor, confirmed the latest advances, saying pro-regime government forces had seized about a quarter of the enclave on the outskirts of Damascus in recent days.

“Most of it is farms and there are few towns in [the captured area],” said the Observatory’s director, Rami Abdulrahman.

The latest fighting took place as UN aid officials said they had not been given permission from Syrian officials to send 40 trucks carrying supplies to the town of Douma, despite optimism earlier in the week that the convoy would be allowed to enter.

Condemning the lack of access, the UN’s regional humanitarian coordinator, Panos Moumtzis, said on Sunday: “One week after the UN security council voted in favour of resolution 2401, calling for a one-month cessation of hostilities across the war-ravaged country, not only has this not happened, in some cases the violence has escalated, particularly for the close to 400,000 men, women and children of [eastern] Ghouta.

“Instead of a much-needed reprieve, we continue to see more fighting, more death, and more disturbing reports of hunger and hospitals being bombed. This collective punishment of civilians is simply unacceptable.”



Source: theguardian

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