More than 335 people have been killed in the besieged rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus since Sunday, with 13 more civilians killed in the latest strikes .
Aid agencies including the Red Cross and World Food Programme are calling for an urgent ceasefire to allow them to reach eastern Ghouta, where more than 1,200 people have been injured, a toll people on the ground say has been exacerbated by attacks on hospitals, clinics and ambulances.
Terrified residents in the area, where 400,000 people are trapped, have been sheltering in caves, dugouts and basements, as a hail of explosives hit homes, roads and hospitals amid what aid officials warned was an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
Aid workers and residents say Syrian army helicopters have been dropping barrel bombs – oil drums packed with explosives and shrapnel – on marketplaces and medical centres.
Residents and insurgents in eastern Ghouta say high-altitude jets of the kind involved in bombing on Thursday morning are Russian, as Moscow’s warplanes typically fly higher than those of the Syrian air force.
Damascus and Moscow deny targeting civilian areas and accuse rebels of holding civilians as human shields. Western powers have also accused Russia of aiding the bombardment.Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by regime forces since 2013. After government gains in recent years, it is the final rebel bastion near the capital.
Image sources: The Guardian & endgenocide.org
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