The destruction in Syria's Eastern Ghouta is overwhelming and the humanitarian needs huge, a top International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said Friday (October 26th).

After visiting the former opposition stronghold outside Damascus, ICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart said the scope of the devastation was still emerging, six months after the fighting ended, AFP reported.

"I was really overwhelmed by the level of destruction that we found in Eastern Ghouta," he said. "I have never seen anything like this ever before."

After retaking significant territory from the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), the Syrian regime set its sights on recapturing Eastern Ghouta earlier this year, and launched a massive Russian-backed offensive.

More than 1,700 civilians were killed in the onslaught, and tens of thousands of people fled as the enclave's towns surrendered one after the other.

Residents have been trickling back to the area but the lack of infrastructure, fear of arrest and the risk posed by unexploded ordnance are preventing mass returns.

"In some parts of Eastern of Ghouta like Harasta where we were, up to 90% of infrastructure is completely destroyed," Stillhart said. "It is really breathtaking, the level of destruction there."