Bombardment by Syrian air strikes kills 250 people over the past two days

News24xx.com - Deadly air strikes and artillery fire continued on Tuesday, February 2018 with more than 100 people in the Syrian enclave of Ghouta killed, and bringing the number of civilian deaths to 250 over the past 48 hours, a report war monitoring. It was the highest two-day death toll since a chemical attack in 2013 in the besieged enclave, which killed hundreds of people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The UK-based war monitors say 106 people were killed in the bombing on Tuesday, February 20, 2018. Six hospitals have been destroyed for two days in the Syrian rebel enclave, the United Nations says.

"I was shocked and distressed by reports of horrific attacks on six hospitals in East Ghouta over the last 48 hours," said Panos Moumtzis, UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis.

 

In addition to six hospitals registered by the UN, other major hospitals were also destroyed.

From yesterday to the present, we have witnessed all kinds of gunfire in our neighborhood," said Syams, a mother of two, as quoted from Al Jazeera on Tuesday from East Ghouta.

"Warplanes have not stopped soaring over the city. When the shelling temporarily stops, they start firing missiles at us," she said.

The relentless air strikes and artillery fire fired by Syrian government forces have left the population in the suburbs of Damascus in panic. East Ghouta is the last remaining area of ??the rebel region east of Damascus, and has been under siege by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces since 2013. The UN and other rights organizations are constantly calling for a permanent ceasefire and the government to lift the "crippling" blockade.

As a result of the strict siege, the aid convoy has not been able to provide much needed food and medical supplies, and the overall access to the enclave remains "very inadequate". On February 14, convoy shipments reached just 2.6 percent of the estimated 272,500 people in need of humanitarian aid, according to Ali al-Za'tari, UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria. The lack of commodities has made people choose to stay afloat.

 

Faced with severe food shortages, rising food prices, Syams is fear dying of starvation "Nothing else is available because of the siege. You can not even find a shopkeeper to sell anything in the middle of this attack - we are starving," said Syams from Ghouta East.

"If we do not die from gunfire, we will die of starvation."

 

The siege also forced doctors like Abulabed to perform medical procedures against injured people using "very basic" equipment.

"We do not even have access to adequate medical equipment," Abulabed said.

 

On Tuesday, UNICEF issued a statement to express "anger" over children who lost their lives against the latest wave of attacks. Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director, said: "We no longer have words to describe our children's sufferings and anger.

 

"Do those who cause suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts?" He asked.

And earlier on Tuesday, the UN said they were worried about "extreme escalation in hostilities" in East Ghouta.  In a statement, they called for an "immediate" end to the bombing.

"The recent escalation of violence has triggered a critical humanitarian situation," said Panos Moumtzis, UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis, in a statement on Tuesday.

"It's important to end this unreasonable human suffering. Such targeting of innocent civilians and infrastructure must be stopped now. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

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