Syrian forces step up assault on Ghouta, pushing civilian death toll higher

Syrian government forces poundeda town in eastern Ghouta with airstrikes on Wednesday in aneffort to slice the rebel enclave in two as they intensified acampaign to deal the opposition its biggest defeat since 2016.

The Syrian government assault of the densely populated areaon the outskirts of Damascus, which began more than two weeksago, has become one of the fiercest campaigns of the war nowentering its eighth year, with bombardment killing hundreds.

Live footage broadcast by Syrian state TV from the outskirtsof the town of Mesraba showed enormous clouds of smoke risinginto the sky. The sounds of explosions and jets could be heard.

A state TV correspondent said militant defences in the townwere being struck by "preparatory fire" in advance of a plannedinfantry assault.

Capturing Mesraba would be a major step towardsevering thenorthern half of the Ghouta, including its biggest town, Douma,from the southern part. Government forces have seized more than40 per cent of the territory so far.

Civilians have been fleeing frontline areas into Douma andhiding in cellars.

"It's bad in the basement, but it's better than thebombing," Adnan, 30, a Douma resident who has been shelteringbelow ground with his wife and two-year-old daughter togetherwith 10 other families, told Reuters by telephone.

Lack of food, medicine

The United Nations says 400,000 people are trapped in thetowns and villages of eastern Ghouta, under government siegefor years and already running out of food and medicine beforethe assault. An aid convoy reached the area this week butgovernment officials had stripped out most medical supplies.

Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful ally, hasoffered rebel fighters safe passage out with their families andpersonal weapons. The proposal echoes previous agreements underwhich insurgents, in the face of military defeat, were permittedto withdraw to opposition-held areas at the Turkish border.

Claims by the Government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are frankly ridiculous.- Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, UN human rights chief

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring groupsays 800 civilians have been killed by government bombing andshelling. The Observatory said an extra 700 pro-governmentmilitia fighters had arrived at the front as reinforcements tojoin the operation.

The UNSecurity Council has called for a 30-daycountrywide ceasefire, but Moscow and Damascus have not halted the campaign, arguing the fighters they are striking aremembers of banned terrorist groups unprotected by the truce.

Russia's Defence Ministry said Wednesday some rebelswanted to accept the proposal to evacuate. Rebels havedismissed it in public. The military spokespersonfor one of themain eastern Ghouta rebel groups said rebels would defend theterritory and there were no negotiations over a withdrawal.

"The factions of Ghouta, and their fighters and its peopleare holding onto their land and will defend it," Hamza Birqdar
of Jaish al-Islam told Reuters in a text message sent overnight.

The opposition says such evacuation agreements amount to apolicy of demographic change by which Assad has forciblydisplaced those who oppose him.

Failed ceasefire

In an interview on state TV, a Syrian army colonel expressedconfidence Ghouta would fall quickly, saying the people therewould return to the "state's embrace very, very, very soon."

A commander in the military alliance fighting in support ofAssad said he anticipated that rebels would end up besieged inDouma and then accept a withdrawal deal.

Asad said this week that the majority of people in easternGhouta want a return of state rule. But rebels and opposition activists say people fear government persecution.

Russian warplanes have taken part in the eastern Ghoutaoperation, and the White House has accused Russia of complicityin the killing of civilians there.

Defeat in eastern Ghouta would mark the biggest setback forthe anti-Assad rebellion since the opposition was driven fromeastern Aleppo in late 2016 after a similar campaign of siege,bombing, ground assaults and the promise of safe passage out.

Moscow and Damascus say the Ghouta campaign is necessary tohalt rebel shelling of the capital. The observatory says suchshelling has killed at least 27 people since Feb. 18, and Syrianstate media have given a higher death toll.

Failed ceasefire proposal

Assad has steadily recovered rebel-held areas in westernSyria since Russia intervened directly on his side in 2015.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesdayvoiced concern about attacks in eastern Ghoutathat
"reportedly claimed the lives of more than 100 people" on Mondayalone, as well as reports of shelling of Damascus.

Western states have been demanding that Russia get Assad toabide by the 30-day ceasefire. The UNSecurity Council, whereRussia holds veto power, will meet on Wednesday to discuss thefailed ceasefire.

UNhuman rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said thegovernment offensive could not be justified by its targeting of
a few hundred fighters.

"Recent attempts to justify indiscriminate, brutal attackson hundreds of thousands of civilians by the need to combat a few hundred fightersas in eastern Ghouta are legally, andmorally, unsustainable," he told the UNHuman Rights Council.

"Also, when you are prepared to kill your own people soeasily, lying is easy too. Claims by the government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilianpopulation are frankly ridiculous."