Fighting continues in Syria's eastern Ghouta despite UN resolution calling for ceasefire

Calls for a ceasefire in Syria, outlined in a UN Security Council resolution urging a 30-day truce, were apparently being ignored Sunday in the besiegedsuburbsofDamascus.

"It's still too early to judge whether there is any improvement in the ground. There have been reports that the bombardments have continued," said PaulDonohoe, the Beirut-based media officer for International Rescue Committee, an aid group.

He saidcolleagues inside eastern Ghouta, where thegovernment of Bashar al-Assad began airstrikeson the rebel-held enclave near the capital last week, have told him they are "living in constant fear" and are worried over when "the next bomb might hit."

In passing the resolution Saturday night, the Security Council did not make it clear when the truce shouldbegin or which areas are covered. Instead, it only called for a ceasefire to be implemented "without delay."

"Thistruce is useless," said Hikmat Sahabi, a lawyer from Damascus. "I mean after 30days, everything will return to the way it was."

No end to ground fighting

Iran said pro-Damascus forceswould press ahead with attacks on easternGhouta, an insurgent enclave near theSyrian capital, as ground fighting continued.

Turkey, too, said its military operations in another theatreof war in the north of Syria would not be affected by theunanimous Security Council vote demanding the truce to allow foraid access and medical evacuations.

Anti-government rebels said they clashed with pro-governmentforces near Damascus on Sunday, as rescuers and residents saidwarplanes struck some towns in the eastern Ghouta pocket, with two airstrikes lateSaturday, shortly after the resolution was adopted.

Latest bombing less intense

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes andartillery killed nine people and injured 31 in the easternsuburbs. The U.K.-based monitoring group said Sunday's bombing wasless intense than attacks over the past week.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military.

The latest escalation by Damascus and its allies has killedmore than 500 people in the enclave over the last week, theObservatory said. The dead included more than 120 children.

Signalling the war remained a top focus of world leaders,the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin and French andGerman counterparts Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel spoke byphone and discussed the ceasefire's implementation.

Iran says it will respect UN resolution

Iranian General Mohammad Baqeri, whose government backs al-Assad, said Tehran and Damascus wouldrespect the UNresolution.

But the Iranian military chief of staff also said the trucedid not cover parts of the Damascus suburbs "held by theterrorists," the Tasnim news agency said.

• UN Security Council unanimously votes for ceasefire as airstrikes batter Syria's Ghouta

In Ankara, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag saidthe UNresolution would not affect Turkey's offensive againstKurdish fighters in Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region.

Turkey launched an assault last month on Afrin, seeking todrive out the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which it deems a menacealong its border.

Previous ceasefires havefizzled

Several ceasefires have unravelled quickly during theseven-year war in Syria, where Assad's military has gained theupper hand with the help of Iran and Russia.

The UNresolution on Saturday followed seven straight daysof bombing by pro-government forces on eastern Ghouta, in one ofthe bloodiest offensives of the war.

WhileMoscow supported adopting the resolution, Russian UNAmbassador Vassily Nebenzia cast doubt on its feasibility.

The resolution does not cover militants from the group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,al-Qaeda, and the Nusra Front.

Baqeri said Iran and Syria would adhere to it. But "parts ofthe suburbs of Damascus, which are held by the terrorists, arenot covered by the ceasefire and cleanup (operations) willcontinue there," Tasnim quoted him as saying.

Pope calls Syria 'martyred'

Pope Francis described Syria as "martyred" on Sunday,calling for aid access and an immediate end to violence.

"All this is inhuman," Francis told tens of thousands ofpeople in St. Peter's Square for his weekly blessing.

First responders in easternGhoutarushed to look forsurvivors after air raids onBeitSawaandSaqba, said the CivilDefence service which operates in rebel territory.

A witness inDoumasaid warplanes were still flying in themorning.

People have holed up in basements to hide from the airstrikes in recent days, and medical charities decried attacks onmore than a dozen hospitals.