Civilian Massacres in East Ghouta, Syria -- Facts You Need To Know

Courtesy of Al-Jazeera

The war in Syria began in March 2011 when Syrian citizens attempted to overthrow the government led by Bashar al-Assad after security forces fired on and killed anti-Assad protesters in the streets of Deraa.

Currently, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has launched one of the bloodiest bombing campaigns with the Russian against anti-government rebels in Eastern Ghouta the country has ever seen since the 2013 chemical weapon (sarin gas) attack on civilians that killed 1,400 people. 

• An estimated 400,000 people are trapped in the Eastern Ghouta, as Syria's government and its allies pound the besieged Eastern Ghouta district, a suburb of Damascus, with air strikes and artillery. 

• Ground forces have been deployed in an effort to oust the rebels who for 5 years have controlled the enclave.
• Death count from Sunday, February 18 - Present: 520+ civilians.
• It is reported that a total of 800+ people, including 185 children and 109 women, had now died since the government stepped up its assault on since November 14, 2017.

• But the worst may still be to come: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the Associated Press that pro-government forces have brought in reinforcements in the past few days and that a larger offensive by the Assad regime may be coming.

• In March 2018, the civil war in Syria will enter its 8th year.
• More than 465,000 Syrians killed.
• Over 12 million displaced from their homes.

"This could be one of the worst attacks in Syrian history, even worse than the siege on Aleppo, the sheer intensity of airstrikes is leveling the city, and killing civilians without any regard or mercy.” -Zedoun al Zoebi, CEO of the Union of Medical Care & Relief Organizations (UOSSM). 

Why Eastern Ghouta?

• Eastern Ghouta is about 6 miles east of central Damascus, Syria’s capital.

• Being so close to the capital makes it important for the Syrian government to reclaim it from the rebels.

• The 40-mile district is home to about 400,000 civilians--half of whom are children under the age of 18.

What Is Happening?

• De-escalation Zone:  
• The area on the outskirts of Damascus.

• Syria’s main ally, Russia and Iran, agreed in 2017 to designate eastern Ghouta as a "de-escalation zone”.  This is in agreement along with Turkey--which backs the rebels.

• Residents and aid workers say the "de-escalation" deals have brought no relief.   Food, fuel and medicine have dwindled. 

• Siege: 
• Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by the Syrian government since 2013, and is the last rebel stronghold near the capital. 

• Chronic food and medicine shortages have devastated eastern Ghouta with severe cases of malnutrition.
• A bundle of bread now costs close to 22 times the national average.
• 2% of children under 5 years old are said to be acutely malnourished.

• Relentless bombing: 

• Sunday, Feb 18: The SOHR said some 17 people were killed in attacks on Sabqa, Misraba, Outaya and al-Ashaari.   The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) did not publish a death toll for that day.

• Monday, Feb 19:  Syrian forces backed by Russian warplanes escalated the offensive on eastern Ghouta . The SOHR said that at least 127 people were killed in attacks on 12 towns in the suburbs of Damascus.  SNHR put the death toll at 60 civilians, including 5 children and 8 women.

• Tuesday, Feb 20:  According to the SOHR, some 128 people were killed, making it the highest one-day death toll in the region since 2013. The SNHR put the death toll at only 38.  
• The reason behind the vast discrepancy was not immediately clear, but varying death tolls are common in the Syrian conflict. 

• Wednesday, Feb 21: The SOHR said that at least 85 people, including 20 children and 12 women were killed.   The SNHR put the death toll at 39, including 6 children and 6 women.  
• The victims were killed in purported cluster bomb attacks on the suburb of Kafr Batna and airstrikes on the suburbs of Jisreen and Sabqa.

• Thursday, Feb 22: The SNHR said that at least 43 civilians, including 5 children and 7 women were killed in attacks on the rebel stronghold.  The SOHR put the death toll at 70, including 9 children and 8 women. 

• Friday, Feb 23: The SOHR and the Ghouta Media Center, an activist-run monitor, put the death toll at 32 people, according to the Associated Press.

• Ground offensive: 
• Sunday, February 25 -- Syrian forces also launched a ground offensive targetting areas on the edges of Ghouta to make it easier for their ground forces to advance. 

• Government forces allegedly have used chemical weapons, mortar shells, barrel bombs, cluster bombs, and bunker-busting munitions.
• Chlorine gas: The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said 16 civilians, including 6 children, were treated for exposure to what appeared to be chlorine gas.
• The White Helmets said victims in eastern Ghouta were showing symptoms "consistent with exposure to toxic chlorine gas”.

• Monday, February 26 -- Syrian forces have "not been able to take any inch of territory" in Ghouta.

Courtesy of CNN

Who Is Being Targeted?

• Schools

• Hospitals

• Doctors Without Borders said that at least 13 hospitals and medical clinics it supports in East Ghouta have been damaged or destroyed. 

• The Violations Documentation Center, an advocacy group, said hospitals were being targeted with different weapons to those used elsewhere in Ghouta.  
• “We have observed and documented that the Syrian government targeted the medical facilities with directed rockets. This is important to note because the Syrian regime is largely using unguided and improvised bombs, but when it comes to hospitals and medical points, guided and directed rockets are used.   Also when a particular medical site is hit once, it is then hit again when first responders arrive."-Mona Zeineddine, Director of Communications.

• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), said that 8 facilities it assists were hit.   

• The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) said that more than 20 medical facilities in East Ghouta had been damaged or destroyed since Sunday, Feb 19.
• Some facilities are being targeted more than once.

• A local doctor told the USOSSM, which supports medical facilities in the eastern Ghouta,"Maybe every minute we have 10 or 20 air strikes... I will treat someone - and after a day or two they come again, injured again. Where is the international community, where is (the UN) Security Council... they abandoned us. They leave us to be killed," he said.

• 600+ critically sick and wounded patients urgently need to be evacuated for treatment.

• Shops

• Markets
• The Syrian government has denied that it is preventing humanitarian organizations from entering eastern Ghouta.  

• However, the Syrian government has complete control over who is allowed to enter and who is not.  
• The United Nations had made only 2 deliveries to the 400,000 person region since November 2017. Each delivery not sufficient enough to feed/aid the entire population.

• Mosques

What Is Being Done?

• Twice the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) attempted to pass a draft resolution for a 30-day nationwide cease-fire this week that would allow for humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations of critically ill patients.

• Russia vetoed the draft on Thursday, Feb 22, after the UNSC convened an emergency session to discuss the situation in Eastern Ghouta--marking the 11th time Moscow has shot down a resolution on Syria.
• Russia consistently uses its permanent seat on the security council to shield the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, from concerted UN action on war crimes.

• Monday, February 26: President Vladimir Putin ordered a daily 5-hour pause in hostilities in the besieged Eastern Ghouta amid reports of chlorine gas attacks -- civilians will be allowed to flee eastern Ghouta through a "humanitarian corridor" during the daily five-hour pause announced by Russia. 
• "Nothing has changed," said Dr Hamza Hassan from Arbeen Hospital in the besieged Damascus suburb.  "The airstrikes are continuing.  A maternity hospital has just been hit in Saqba (a town in eastern Ghouta) and is out of service," he told CNN.