BEIRUT: At least 28 civilians were killed on Monday as Syrian government air strikes pounded a rebel-held enclave near the capital Damascus, a monitor said. The region of Eastern Ghouta is home to an estimated 400,000 people living under government siege and facing escalating bombardment in recent weeks.
“Dozens of air strikes hit several areas in Eastern Ghouta, killing 28 civilians including four children,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
The deadliest raids hit a market in the town of Beit Sawa, killing nine civilians including two children.
Another six civilians, including a young girl, were killed in bombardment on the town of Hazzeh.
The remaining eight were killed in strikes across the rest of the besieged region, and more than 80 people were wounded, the Observatory said.
An AFP correspondent in Eastern Ghouta could hear warplanes above, circling around the town every few minutes. Eastern Ghouta is supposed to be one of four de-escalation zones agreed last year, but violence has ramped up there in recent weeks.
This month alone, chlorine is suspected of having been used on two occasions in munitions launched by the Syrian forces on Eastern Ghouta, causing respiratory problems among civilians.
On Friday, Syrian bombardment killed at least 11 civilians.
The state news agency Sana said on Monday that a woman was killed and three people wounded in rebel rocket fire from Eastern Ghouta onto the capital’s regime-controlled district of Bab Touma.
Syria’s war has killed more than 340,000 people and displaced millions since it began in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Meanwhile, a convoy of Turkish troops entered Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib to set up a new “observation point” aimed at reducing violence under a deal with Russia, the military said.
Idlib, which is largely controlled by rebel forces, lies to the west of the Kurdish-held region of Afrin which is currently the target of a major military operation by the Turkish army.
The military said in a statement that the point was the fourth such position within Idlib province set up by the Turkish army in line with peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.
It is being set up in the Seyh Isa area of Idlib, it said.
Those talks -- sponsored by Turkey, Iran and Russia -- set out the creation of four so-called de-escalation zones in Idlib, the greater Damascus area, the southern region of Daraa and the city of Homs.
Idlib is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), a group led by Al Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, which ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
The region is also home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Syria’s seven-year-old civil war including many who moved after fighting in neighbouring Aleppo province.
Last week, a Turkish convoy seeking to deploy in Idlib was hit by a bomb attack that killed one civilian.
The army blamed the Kurdish militants they are fighting in the Afrin area.
The latest deployment also comes after a Russian pilot was killed on Saturday in fighting with rebels after his warplane was downed over Idlib.
HTS claimed that it brought down the plane with a shoulder-launched missile.
Turkey and Russia have been on opposite sides of the civil war, with Ankara backing rebels and Moscow the chief ally of President Bashar al Assad along with Iran.
They have since late 2016 however worked closely on a process to bring peace to Syria, despite
occasional tensions. Russian media reports have said Moscow expects Turkey’s help in recovering the body of the dead pilot. — Agencies
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