Hell on Earth exists. It is in Eastern Ghouta, Syria
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
The scene of fierce fighting between Assad's troops and rebels, the situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, has deteriorated sharply in recent days: “It's the Middle Ages”
Hell on Earth exists. It is in Eastern Ghouta, Syria
The scene of fierce fighting between Assad's troops and rebels, the situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, has deteriorated sharply in recent days: “It's the Middle Ages”
Eastern Ghouta represents a stronghold of the revolt against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Once the "green lung" of the capital Damascus, since 2013 the region has been besieged by the regular army. An offensive that in recent days has claimed 320 lives, among them 76 children, according to information provided by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
More than 400,000 civilians are present in Eastern Ghouta
Since last Sunday, the Syrian air force has launched a large-scale operation, with an intense series of bombardments. This is the prelude to a likely ground assault, aimed at definitively driving the rebels out of the area. The latter is still home to more than 400,000 civilians, forced to face a dramatic humanitarian situation.
Doctors are having to use expired drugs and scrabble for water in Syria cnn.it/2EIj1V5
On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross officially requested access to Eastern Ghouta: "Our workers must be immediately authorised to enter the conflict zones in order to assist the wounded," declared Marianne Gasser, the organisation's representative in Syria. Heartbreaking photographs and videos are circulating on social networks: they show parents searching for their children among the rubble. Alive or dead.
UN calls for "immediate" end to bombardment of Syria's Eastern Ghouta as more than 100 civilians killed in regime attacks aje.io/m576d
The Guardian speaks of a "new Srebrenica". The United Nations: "Like Aleppo"
Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, has compared the situation in Eastern Ghouta to that of Aleppo, for years the scene of a fierce battle between rebels and the regular army, the price of which was largely paid by civilians. For Unicef, the picture is "worthy of the Middle Ages". And the international press too now describes the situation in dramatic terms: the Guardian has spoken of a "new Srebrenica", while the American broadcaster CNN has spoken of a "critical moment for human rights".
No words.
"
"
"
"
"
"
" - @UNICEFmena has issued a blank statement in response to latest reports of mass casualties among children in Eastern Ghouta and Damascus, Syria. 💧
"
"
"
"
"
"
" - @UNICEFmena has issued a blank statement in response to latest reports of mass casualties among children in Eastern Ghouta and Damascus, Syria. 💧
On Tuesday evening, the United Nations announced that the bombs dropped by Assad's fighter jets had not spared six hospitals in Eastern Ghouta. Three of these facilities are now out of service and two are only partially operational. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has spoken of "hell on Earth" and has launched "an appeal to all parties to the conflict to immediately suspend all military action and allow those most in need to be reached by the aid they require".
The major international powers paralysed in a scenario of military and political division
From a diplomatic standpoint, the aim of the United Nations chief is to put to a vote in the coming days a draft resolution imposing a one-month ceasefire in Syria. However, although numerous UN agencies have condemned the bloody military campaign, their positions remain, for now, just that. Indeed, official endorsements of Guterres's proposal have come only from Sweden and Kuwait. The major powers of the international community, by contrast, remain essentially paralysed, as the British daily The Independent noted in an editorial, in a context of political and strategic division. This is, in effect, leaving Assad free to continue his offensive.
The West stands impotent in the face of Syria’s Ghouta massacre independent.co.uk/voices/editori…
Vladimir Putin's Russia has however called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, with the aim of "proposing a way out". France, meanwhile, has called for "a truce that would allow civilians to be evacuated". Liberian president George Weah, finally, pointed the finger at Assad: "Under the pretext of fighting jihadist terrorists, the regime and some of its allies have decided to target the civilian population".