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Human Rights

Syrian regime batters Eastern Ghouta for 5th day

By AFP

Syrian civilians flee from reported regime airstrikes in the opposition-held town of Jisreen, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus on February 8th. [Abdulmonam Eassa/AFP]

Syrian civilians flee from reported regime airstrikes in the opposition-held town of Jisreen, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus on February 8th. [Abdulmonam Eassa/AFP]

Fresh Syrian regime airstrikes hit the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Friday (February 9th) in the fifth straight day of a bombing campaign that has killed more than 230 civilians.

Syrian warplanes have battered the enclave's towns since Monday, trapping thousands of families in makeshift bomb shelters and overwhelming rescue workers.

World powers failed to back an appeal by UN officials for a month-long ceasefire in Syria to allow for desperately needed aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

Aid groups said the bombing campaign was impeding access to the area for humanitarian relief and warned of a crisis, while the US on Thursday demanded that regime and Russian forces put an end to the airstrikes.

Members of Syrian civil defence forces known as White Helmets evacuate a victim of an airstrike in the opposition-held enclave of Erbin in Eastern Ghouta on Thursday (February 8th). [Amer al-Mohibany/AFP]

Members of Syrian civil defence forces known as White Helmets evacuate a victim of an airstrike in the opposition-held enclave of Erbin in Eastern Ghouta on Thursday (February 8th). [Amer al-Mohibany/AFP]

Bombing raids resumed on several Eastern Ghouta towns on Friday morning.

Residents had taken advantage of a few hours of calm to begin clearing rubble from their doorsteps and sweeping away broken glass.

In Douma, some were seen scouring for salvageable items, while others rushed to the market to find food and other supplies.

But around mid-morning, an announcement blasted over mosque minarets warned of incoming strikes: "Surveillance plane in the sky. Clear the streets."

Soon after, twin strikes hit Erbin, where two dozen people were killed Thursday.

Medics in the town reported being overwhelmed by the relentless bombardment.

"From 2011 until now, there has never been the level of bombardment we have seen in the last 96 hours," said Hamza, one of the doctors treating the wounded.

'Humanitarian disaster'

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 75 people died on Thursday, three of wounds suffered the previous day, bringing the civilian death toll since Monday to more than 230.

Eastern Ghouta is home to an estimated 400,000 people who have lived under crippling regime siege since 2013.

More than 4,000 families live in basements and bunkers for fear of airstrikes, according to Save the Children.

"The siege means there is nowhere for them to escape. There must be an immediate halt to the fighting and an end to the siege," said Save the Children's Syria response director, Sonia Khush.

CARE International said the intensity of the air strikes had made it extremely difficult for relief workers to assist the needy.

"Our partners are having a hard time moving around, so how can they reach vulnerable people?" the group's communications director for Syria, Joelle Bassoul, asked.

"If there is no ceasefire, if this is all left unheard, we cannot imagine the scale of the humanitarian disaster," she said.

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