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Syrian regime presses Eastern Ghouta assault

By Waleed Abu al-Khair in Cairo and AFP

A Syrian Civil Defence team member carries a child in his arms after an airstrike targeted Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

A Syrian Civil Defence team member carries a child in his arms after an airstrike targeted Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

The opposition-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta suffered some of its worst bloodshed in years on Tuesday (February 6th) as the regime pressed an assault into Wednesday and the death toll continued to mount.

A fresh round of regime strikes killed 23 civilians Wednesday in the enclave near Damascus, where overwhelmed medics were still treating Tuesday's survivors.

"The civilian toll is now 88. Two wounded people died after midnight," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.

"This was the highest civilian toll in Syria in nearly nine months, and one of the bloodiest days for Eastern Ghouta in several years," he told AFP.

A building in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta stands in ruins amid the constant regime bombardment. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

A building in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta stands in ruins amid the constant regime bombardment. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

Civilians and Civil Defence teams carry a victim of the bombing through the rubble in the town of Erbin in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

Civilians and Civil Defence teams carry a victim of the bombing through the rubble in the town of Erbin in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of activist Mohammed al-Beik]

Among the dead were 19 children and 20 women, he said, and around 200 were wounded.

After Tuesday's assault, regime warplanes returned Wednesday morning and carried out strikes that killed 15 civilians and wounded dozens.

Ten were killed in Beit Sawa, among them four children. Another eight died in Hammuriyeh and five in Douma, the Observatory said.

Surrounding areas and villages had been heavily battered by raids on Tuesday, flooding Douma's hospitals with wounded children.

'All indications' of chemical weapons use

Home to an estimated 400,000 people, Eastern Ghouta has been included in a de-escalation deal that was meant to bring calm to several zones.

But bombardment there has increased in recent days, including with suspected chlorine-filled munitions.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Wednesday it is probing "all credible allegations" of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

A fact-finding mission from the OPCW which has been mandated "to establish the facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals.... is investigating all credible allegations", the international watchdog said in a statement, voicing "grave concern" over the new reports.

On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said "all indications" pointed to the Syrian regime's use of chlorine weapons in Syria.

Asked how France would respond, Le Drian pointed to the "partnership against impunity" agreed by two dozen countries in January to ensure that perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria are held accountable.

As the UN called Tuesday for a month-long ceasefire across the country, UN war crimes investigators said they were studying "multiple" reports that chemical weapons have been used in Eastern Ghouta and in Idlib province.

The US said earlier this week there was "obvious evidence" of recent chlorine gas attacks, including in Eastern Ghouta.

'Heaviest and most violent' airstrikes

Activists who spoke to Diyaruna said the airstrikes carried out over the past two days were the heaviest and most violent yet.

"Syrian regime warplanes on Tuesday continued heavy airstrikes for the second straight day on many villages and towns in Eastern Ghouta," Dr. Anas Abu Yassir, director of the medical bureau in al-Marj, told Diyaruna.

All the major population centres were hit, he said, including Kafr Batna, Hammuriyeh, Saqba, Hazzeh, the city of Zamalka, Mesraba and Erbin, Harasta, Madyara, Douma, al-Shifuniyah and Beit Sawa.

Abu Yasser said the highest number of casualties was seen in the town of Mesraba, where a popular market crowded with shoppers was struck.

The town of Erbin also has been coming under shelling, airstrikes and sniper fire, in conjunction with the fierce fighting taking place on its outskirts, he said, as the Syrian regime and allied militias attempt to advance to capture it.

"A large number of children and women were among the victims, as the airstrikes targeted primarily mainly residential areas," he said.

The death toll is expected to rise significantly, he said, as the search for the dead and wounded has not been completed, due to the difficulty of reaching the bomb sites out of fear of being hit by the shelling or airstrikes.

Some of the critically wounded might not survive, he said, in a situation that is exacerbated by the scarcity of medical services in Eastern Ghouta due to the more than four-year regime siege.

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