Syrian Civil War (Graphic Photos/Vid Not Allowed)

[ejaz007]

Syrian civilians flee embattled Eastern Ghouta and Afrin
Death toll jumps as Assad's troops in besieged Eastern Ghouta and Turkish forces in Afrin intensify military operations.

15 hours ago

MORE ON SYRIA'S CIVIL WAR

• UN 'deeply alarmed' about civilians deaths in besieged Afrintoday
• Air strikes 'kill 30' in Eastern Ghouta as 'hundreds' more fleetoday
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• Limited food allowed to enter Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta2 days ago

Civilians continue to flee Syria's Eastern Ghouta and Afrin in record numbers as Syrian and Turkish military operations continue against their respective foes.

Roughly 50,000 people have fled the two areas - 20,000 from Eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, and 30,000 from Afrin, in Syria's Kurdish-dominated northeast - according to some counts.

Eastern Ghouta has been at the centre of fighting between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's Russian-backed forces in recent days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said 46 civilians, including at least six children, were killed in air raids in the Kafr Batna district on Friday morning.

The Russian defence ministry estimated that 2,000 people more people left Eastern Ghouta on Friday morning.

READ MORE
Seven years on, no end in sight to war in Syria
For his part, Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the UN, told the UN Security Council on Friday that more than 40,000 people were able to flee Eastern Ghouta the day before.

Jaafari's estimate could not be independently verified.

Images posted online showed elderly women in wheelchairs and children carried by their parents as they walked amid the ruins of Eastern Ghouta.

The SOHR, a UK-based war monitor, said as many as 20,000 people have abandoned their homes, with many still waiting to be transported to safe zones.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Gaziantep in neighbouring Turkey, said the exodus was expected after the Syrian forces cut off supplies.

The entire Eastern Ghouta is home to 400,000 people, and it has been under a government siege since mid-2013.

Following nearly four weeks of relentless bombardment, which has left more than 1,250 civilians including children dead, government forces are inching closer to capturing the rest of Eastern Ghouta, forcing civilians to flee.

Assad's forces have already split the area, under siege since 2013, into three sections. The rebels, however, say they have retaken the town of Hamouriyah.

Between 12,000 to 13,000 people have reportedly fled Eastern Ghouta as of Friday [Reuters]
Against this backdrop of continued fighting, about 25 trucks of food aid were allowed on Thursday into Eastern Ghouta's Douma district, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It is unclear how long the food supply would last in an area believed to be populated with as many as 125,000.

The aid does not include medical supplies.

According to UNHCR figures, there have been nearly 500,000 people killed and over 11 million displaced in Syria's war, which entered its eighth year on Thursday.

Afrin offensive
Meanwhile, dozens of Syrian civilians, including children, have been killed as Turkish troops and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies continue to bombard Afrin.

Turkey says the area is controlled by Kurdish YPG fighters, who they consider to be "terrorists".

The continued push by Turkish forces into Afrin has forced as many as 30,000 civilians to flee since Wednesday, the SOHR said on Friday.

On Friday alone, 2,500 people were displaced because of the fighting, according to the SOHR.

WATCH Syrian army makes big gains in Eastern Ghouta (2:19)


Meanwhile, on the diplomatic level, foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, have held negotiations on the Syrian civil war.

The agenda at Friday's meeting included how to maintain security in the established de-escalation zones as well as political and humanitarian issues.

The next round of talks is expected in the middle of May.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Astana, said there has been talk of the Russian government negotiating with Syrian rebels over the situation in Eastern Ghouta.

However, when it comes to the question of transition and the political future of Syria, the parties in the negotiation remain divided, she said.

SPECIAL SERIES

The Disappeared of Syria


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018...led-eastern-ghouta-afrin-180316160255579.html

 

[500]

Khamenai mercenaries dying like flies:

545 confirmed killed Assad aka Khamenai aka Putin mercenaries in 2 weeks:

https://twitter.com/x/status/975184052033605633

As usual only tactics they know is sadistic indiscriminate bombing and human waves.

 

[SubWater]

545 confirmed killed Assad aka Khamenai aka Putin mercenaries in 2 weeks:

https://twitter.com/x/status/975184052033605633

As usual only tactics they know is sadistic indiscriminate bombing and human waves.

They are martyrs and sign of proud for Syrians.
They sacrificed their lives, and saved millions of Syrians from Wahhabi thugs.
God bless them.

 

[500]

They are martyrs and sign of proud for Syrians.
They sacrificed their lives, and saved millions of Syrians from Wahhabi thugs.
God bless them.

They just prolonged little bit an agony of corrupt inbred dictator.

 

[like_a_boss]

@500 happy new year

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...ol-of-afrin/article23287977.ece?homepage=true
The advance came as Syria’s civil war entered its eighth year this week with heavy fighting on two fronts — around Afrin and in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands forced from their homes by the ferocious assault in Ghouta, where Russian-backed forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad are battling to retake the FSA enclave outside the capital.

A lightning advance

In Afrin, AFP correspondents saw Turkish forces and their Syrian allies in all neighbourhoods of the city after they made a lightning advance inside on Sunday.

Rebels fanned out across the city, giving victory signs and taking pictures with Turkish tanks parked outside official buildings.

The flags of Turkey and Syrian rebel groups were raised in the city .

Civilians were seen fleeing the city and plumes of smoke rose into the sky as mines exploded.

Around 2,50,000 civilians had left in recent days after pro-Ankara fighters all but surrounded the city, fleeing southwards to territory still held by the Daesh or controlled by the Syrian regime.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey-backed fighters had taken control of the city centre at 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT).

Mr. Erdoğan has said that the operation could move on to other Daesh-controlled areas of northern Syria.

Residents said it appeared that Daesh units had withdrawn from the city without a fight. Officials with the Kurdish militia could not be immediately reached for comment.

280 civilians killed

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 280 civilians have been killed since the campaign began on January 20 — including 16 at a hospital on Friday.

The Observatory said Sunday that more than 1,500 Daesh fighters had been killed since the start of the offensive on January 20, most of them in air strikes and artillery fire.

More than 400 FSA have also been killed, it said. The Turkish military says 46 Turkish soldiers have died.

 

[ejaz007]

Free Syrian Army rebels say they entered Afrin city centre
Clashes between FSA rebels and Kurdish fighters in Afrin still ongoing, Syrian opposition and Turkish media report.

23 hours ago

Turkey and the FSA in January launched an air-and-ground operation into Afrin against the Kurdish fighters there [File: Reuters]
MORE ON TURKEY-SYRIA BORDER

• Free Syrian Army rebels say they entered Afrin city centretoday
• UN 'deeply alarmed' about civilians deaths in besieged Afrinyesterday
• Turkey denies bombing Afrin's hospitalyesterday
• Fighting in Afrin displaces thousands, says monitor3 days ago

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group has entered the city centre of Afrin, which had been controlled by Kurdish fighters, according to FSA spokespersons and Turkish media.

Clashes between the opposing sides were ongoing on Sunday morning, privately-owned Dogan News Agency and FSA spokespersons said early on Sunday.

Videos and photos shared by the Turkish-backed FSA fighters on social media showed them in residential streets, making victory signs and waving flags. Al Jazeera cannot independently confirm their authenticity.

Turkey - together with the FSA rebel group - in January launched an air-and-ground operation into Afrin in the northwest of Syria to vanquish the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection (YPG) fighters near its border.

Turkey considers the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria and its armed wing YPG to be "terrorist groups" with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK has waged a decades-long armed fight against the Turkish state that has killed tens of thousands of people.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018...ntered-afrin-city-centre-180318063513113.html

 

[50cent]

They are martyrs and sign of proud for Syrians.
They sacrificed their lives, and saved millions of Syrians from Wahhabi thugs.
God bless them.

Total rebel casualties are double but they never show them to give fake impression as if they are winning war 800 plus casulaites in east ghouta alone.Not even a single a single loss of fighter was reported by them in east ghouta

 

[ejaz007]

Humanitarian Corridor in Action: Civilians Exit Area in Syria's E Ghouta (VIDEO)
© Sputnik/ Muhamad Maruf
MIDDLE EAST
13:42 19.03.2018(updated 13:44 19.03.2018)Get short URL
0 20
Amid the humanitarian pause in the conflict-torn territory of Eastern Ghouta, civilians continue to flee the area to escape the shellings and killings by militants.

On February 24, the UN Security Council unanimously ratified Resolution 2401 that urged all belligerent parties to instantly halt all hostilities and adhere to a humanitarian pause across Syria in order to guarantee the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, as well as medical evacuation of those wounded.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201803191062687463-humanitarian-corridor-ghouta-syria/

 

[50cent]

Another group of rats are caught now they will be fucked hard in their arse rape till death

 

[ejaz007]

Syria's White Helmets: 56 people killed in Eastern Ghouta
Assad forces keep up pressure on rebel enclave amid reports of deaths of 16 children sheltering in a school.

9 hours ago

More than 1,400 have died as government forces attempt to flush out Eastern Ghouta rebels [Anadolu]
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At least 56 people have been killed in air attacks by the Syrian and Russian war planes on Eastern Ghouta, according to the White Helmets, a voluntary organisation that operates in parts of rebel-controlled Syria.

On Monday night, at least 16 children and four women were reported killed after taking shelter in a school in the town of Irbin, which was hit by an air raid.

Activists told Al Jazeera that the deaths came as the government bombardment of the enclave resumed following a brief lull.

For its part, Syria state TV reported on Tuesday that at least 35 people were killed after a rocket was fired at a government-controlled area in Damascus.

SANA news agency blamed "terrorists inside Eastern Ghouta" for firing the rocket, which had targeted a market in the Kashkoul neighbourhood in Jaramana, a southeast suburb of Damascus.

Eastern Ghouta, which has been under rebel control since mid-2013, has been under a relentless bombing campaign, launched by Russian-backed Syrian forces a month ago.

WATCH Reports: Syrians fleeing Ghouta arrested by government (2:55)


According to the UN, hundreds of people have been killed as government forces and its Russian allies attempt to drive out armed opposition groups from Eastern Ghouta.

Activists and monitors say, however, the death toll is much higher, with some reporting as many as 1,400 killed.

Jaish al-Islam, one of the rebel groups in the area, launched a counterattack on Monday, activists said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have reportedly captured 80 percent of the enclave.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said that talks between the Russians and rebel fighters were "happening", but the renewed bombardment was an indication that negotiations were not "going well".

While the pro-government alliance seeks a full surrender, rebels want a ceasefire deal, our correspondent said.

"They are now in a weak position, and are shrinking in rebel-controlled territories under heavy fire, particularly in the town of Douma … and Irbin," she said.

'War crimes'
Though thousands have fled to various shelters in government-controlled territories, some 340,000 remain trapped inside, suffering from acute food shortages and a lack of medical supplies, the activists told Al Jazeera.

People in Eastern Ghouta have been appealing for international support and for monitors to be deployed on the ground to ensure their safety and protection in case government forces seize more territory in the enclave.

On Monday, Assad visited army posts in the area.

The pro-government alliance considers the latest operation as a victory, Al Jazeera's Khodr said, while human rights organisations express concern over missing civilians.

WATCH Syrian opposition: UN 'responsible' for silence over Ghouta (2:12)


Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch's deputy Middle East director, told Al Jazeera that in order to ensure the security of people fleeing from Eastern Ghouta, "we do need to have monitors on the ground".

"No one needs to be reminded of the violations that we have seen in places of detention by government forces," she said.

"From torture, to ill-treatment, to sexual violence and even executions."

Fakih's statement comes as activists inside the enclave report the arrest of many who attempted to flee to government-controlled territories.

The United Nations human rights chief has said the siege of Eastern Ghouta "has involved pervasive war crimes", citing the "use of chemical weaponry, enforced starvation as a weapon of warfare, and the denial of essential and lifesaving aid, culminating in the current, relentless, month-long bombardment".

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein made the remarks during an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday after a Russia procedural manoeuvre blocked him from speaking to a formal meeting.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018...led-strike-ghouta-school-180320093343453.html

 

[ejaz007]

Syrian Army Conducting Offensive on One of Terrorists’ Strongholds in E Ghouta
© REUTERS/ STRINGER
MIDDLE EAST
07:00 21.03.2018Get short URL
1100
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - The Syrian troops, who have previously liberated the settlements of Saqba and Kafr Batna, continued the offensive on the town of Ein Tarma, regarded as one of the largest strongholds of terrorists in Eastern Ghouta, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Tuesday.

The Syrian Armed Forces have started the offensive against the fortified positions of the terrorists on the southern outskirts of Ein Tarma.

"Our soldiers are now clearing gardens near Ein Tarma. The terrorists offer resistance, firing from mortars and small arms," a Syrian officer told RIA Novosti.

The officer added that new units arrived in the afternoon and began to gain a foothold in new positions to give assault squads an opportunity to continue the offensive in the near future.

By now, the Syrian army has liberated around 70 percent of Eastern Ghouta.

© REUTERS/ BASSAM KHABIEH
Rocket Attack by Terrorists on Damascus Outskirts Kills 37 People
The situation in Eastern Ghouta has been tense over the past weeks resulting in ongoing shelling by local militants on Damascus and fire from the Syrian pro-government forces. Western countries are accusing the Syrian government and Russia of being responsible for the escalation of tensions in the area. Damascus says it opens fire in response to shelling from Eastern Ghouta.

On February 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2401 that urges all parties to the conflict to immediately stop hostilities and adhere to a long-term humanitarian ceasefire for at least 30 days across the entire Syrian territory in order to ensure the safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid supplies, as well as the medical evacuation of injured people. Despite the adopted document, clashes in the area continued.

Soon after the adoption of the UNSC resolution, Russia announced a daily five-hour humanitarian break in hostilities to stop casualties among the population and to let civilians leave Eastern Ghouta.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201803211062746017-syria-ghouta-army-attack-terrorists/

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

https://www.reddit.com/r/path%3D%252Fr%252Fsyriancivilwar%252Fcomments%252F86540r%252F

 

[ejaz007]

Evacuation deal for fighters in Eastern Ghouta town reached
Syrian state TV and Ahrar al-Sham rebel group say 7,500 people will evacuate Ghouta town of Harasta on Thursday.

11 hours ago

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent said it is responding to the needs of more than 25,000 people who fled Eastern Ghouta [SANA via AP]
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Thousands of Syrian fighters and their relatives will be evacuated from Harasta, a besieged town in Eastern Ghouta, to an opposition-held province in northern Syria, state media and a rebel group have said.

The Russian-brokered deal was reached on Wednesday after a meeting between a Syrian government delegation and representatives of residents and fighters in rebel-held Harasta.

"Evacuation for families who want to leave will begin tomorrow at 7am (05:00 GMT)," Munther Fares, spokesperson for the Ahrar al-Sham group, which holds Harasta, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Gunmen and civilians who choose to leave will have Russian guarantees."

Addounia TV, a state-run outlet, said that 1,500 gunmen and 6,000 family members would be evacuated on Thursday in two groups to Idlib.

Harasta is home to 20,000 people.

"Families who want to stay [in Harasta] will be given guarantees by the Syrian government and the Russians that no harm will come to them, and that the city will not be subjected to displacement or demographic change," Fares said.

He added that civilians inside and outside Harasta would form a committee to follow up the affairs of those remaining in the city and prisoners.

A member of the Harasta Council confirmed the news to Al Jazeera, saying the evacuation includes gunmen and civilians, including people needing medical assistance.

'Anything can happen'
The evacuation deal marks the first time opposition fighters have been able to leave rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, which has been subjected to an aerial offensive carried out by Syrian government forces and Russian fighter jets for more than a month.

However, Tayyim al-Siyoufi, a Harasta-based activist, told Al Jazeera that although the agreement has been reached, it remains to be seen whether it will be upheld in time for the scheduled evacuation.

"Anything can happen," he said. "We are in a worse position than other towns in Ghouta ... we'll see if the deal goes through or not."

With Harasta occupying just two square kilometres, al-Siyoufi said civilians are feeling the brunt of the air attacks more intensely.

"Every day there are 20 warplanes hovering above us that fire around 200 shellings," he said.

'Overwhelming' situation for displaced Ghouta residents
The Syrian army has now recaptured 80 percent of Eastern Ghouta, which lies on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and was once its breadbasket.

According to the White Helmets, a voluntary group operating in parts of rebel-controlled Syria, at least 1,252 documented civilians have been killed in the offensive.

More than 4,000 people have been wounded, with 2,990 air raids targeting the region.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Eastern Ghouta, which used to have a population of around 400,000.

Ingy Sedky, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, said that there are at least four shelters accommodating those who escaped the region: Herjellah, Dweir, Maahad al-Kahraba and Nashabeyah.

"According to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), they are now responding to the needs of more than 25,000 people," Sedky told Al Jazeera. "But it is very hard to know how many people have already left since they keep coming and moving constantly."

SARC has been providing bread packs for 15,000 people, Sedky said.

"We provided canned food parcels that should be enough for 20,000 people for a month, as well as hygiene kits and daily essentials like mattresses, blankets, solar lamps to 15,000 people."

Yet the situation, she continued, is "overwhelming".

"Many of the people came with only the clothes they were wearing," she said. "In each shelter we visit, you could see a huge number of people queuing in front of the SARC mobile clinics, many in very poor health condition due to years spent without proper access to medical care. The journey was especially hard for the elderly and those with limited mobility."

"It is extremely challenging for all humanitarian actors to cover all the needs as thousands of people keep coming every day [at least till yesterday] but we are doing all we can to cope with the current influx."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018...tern-ghouta-town-reached-180321144929829.html

 

[ejaz007]

'True Colors': WATCH Raw Footage of Syria's Eastern Ghouta Revealed by Russia
© REUTERS/ STRINGER
MIDDLE EAST
08:57 22.03.2018Get short URL
1140
The Syrian Army continues its military operation in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, where at least 70 percent of the territory has already been liberated from terrorists amid the ongoing evacuation of civilians.

A 15-minute video pertaining to the current situation in Syria's Eastern Ghouta has been posted on the YouTube channel of Russia's UN mission.

Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzia described the video as a "documentary in its true colors" which he said "depicts a real picture of what has taken place in these Damascus suburbs."

"I hope that UN Security Council members will take the time to watch the film," Nebenzya said.


The documentary specifically shows civilians leaving Eastern Ghouta via humanitarian corridors; the process is being assisted by the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties.

READ MORE: View on the Ground: Thousands of Civilians Leaving Eastern Ghouta

The Syrian Army has already liberated at least 70 percent of the territory of Eastern Ghouta, which has been controlled by armed anti-government groups including the al-Nusra Front* since 2012.

READ MORE: Eastern Ghouta Humanitarian Corridors in Action (VIDEO)

Almost 50,000 civilians have been evacuated from the area in the past several days; about 300,000 more are still held by the terrorists.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/...tern-ghouta-civilians-evacuation-documentary/