DOUMA, Syria: New air strikes and heavy clashes shook Syria’s rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday despite a UN demand for a ceasefire to end one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria’s civil war.
After days of diplomatic wrangling, the Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria “without delay”, to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
President Bashar al Assad’s forces launched a major bombing campaign against the enclave on the edge of Damascus a week ago, with more than 500 people since killed.
The UN resolution has raised hopes of stemming the bloodshed but it remains unclear when or how broadly the ceasefire could be implemented.
In a phone call on Sunday German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence.
They called on Russia “to exercise maximum pressure on the Syrian regime to achieve an immediate suspension of air raids and fighting”, Merkel’s office said.
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