Air strikes on Syria's eastern Ghouta kill over 30 civilians

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says regime strikes killed over 30 civilians in eastern Ghouta's Zamalka town as people were preparing to flee the enclave.

A wounded man is carried following an air strike on the rebel-held besieged town of Arbin, in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on January 2, 2018.
AFP

A wounded man is carried following an air strike on the rebel-held besieged town of Arbin, in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on January 2, 2018.

Air strikes on eastern Ghouta killed over 30 civilians on Saturday,  a monitor said, almost a month into a blistering Russia-backed regime assault on the Syrian rebel enclave outside Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 30 people were killed in the strikes on the eastern Ghouta's Zamalka town that hit a group of people who were trying to flee into regime-controlled areas.

"Warplanes targeted civilians in Zamalka town as they prepared to flee" the southern area of the enclave held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

TRT World's correspondent Caitlin McGee reports from Turkish border town of Kilis.

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Since mid-February, Syrian regime forces have targeted Damascus' sprawling suburbs with shells, air strikes and, at times, even toxic gas, according to opposition medics.

Regime forces have taken 70 percent of the enclave since then  and last weekend, regime forces divided the enclave into three sectors, isolating the major urban centers and enabling a swift advance. 

The weekslong regime violance has killed more than 1,390 civilians and wounded 5,000 in the enclave, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

TRT World's Arabella Munro has more. 

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Thousands of civilians flee besieged enclave

The offensive has pushed thousands more to flee their homes into regime-controlled areas.

On Saturday morning, "around 10,000 civilians streamed out of the rebel enclave into regime-held areas", Abdel Rahman said.

Russia's military also said early on Saturday that more than 11,000 people have left  the enclave in the past few hours as regime forces step up the offensive.

Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour Saturday through a regime-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

More than 40,000 civilians have poured out of the enclave since Thursday morning, fleeing bombardment and advancing troops.

Syria's war has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

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