Air strikes from Syrian forces killed 290 civilians in Eastern Ghouta; residents waiting for their turn to die

Damascus, February 22: Residents in the rebel-held area outside Damascus on Wednesday said that they are waiting for their turn to die. Notably, a rebel-held area of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta continues to witness one of the most-bloodiest days as the death toll has crossed over 250 including 90 children after the Government forces launched a series of airstrikes since Sunday.

 

At least 290 civilians were killed including 90 children were killed while 100 others were injured after the Syrian forces launched a series of airstrikes since Sunday this week. As the rockets and barrel bombs continued to fall on Wednesday, civilians residing in the Eastern Ghouta said that they are waiting for their turn to die.

Meanwhile, the United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres said the Syrian government's bombing campaign had turned the region into "hell on earth" for civilians in Eastern Ghouta. "My appeal to all those involved is for an immediate suspension of all war activities in eastern Ghouta allowing for humanitarian aid to reach all those in need," he added.

Earlier, on February 8 of this year, Syrian government launched a massive air strike in the rebel-held region eastern Ghouta province in which as many as 59 civilians were killed including 15 children while 139 others were injured.

Eastern Ghouta is held by rebels since 2012 and is the last opposition pocket around Damascus but the province is dominated by the Islamist faction Jaish al-Islam. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is keen to retake Eastern Ghouta with an apparently imminent ground assault. So far, over 340,000 people have been killed since the civil war erupted in 2011.