Residents in the besieged Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta have begun using UN aid bags as shrouds for children killed in the devastating bombardment by the Assad regime to express their frustration over the organization’s inaction.
On February 24, UN Security Council passed Resolution 2401 demanding a nationwide ceasefire in Syria for 30 days especially in eastern Ghouta and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need.
Words cannot describe the situation in eastern Ghouta, Amnesty International said, noting that the massacres taking place there are “disgrace to humanity” and called for international action to put an end to the Assad regime and Russia’s onslaught on the rebel-held enclave.
The Syrian Coalition held Russia fully responsible for the carnage in eastern Ghouta as it urged the United States to take action to put an end to Moscow’s monopoly of the decision-making in Syria.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) on Monday said that Russia has killed at least Syrian 6,019 civilians, including 1,708 children since the beginning of its direct intervention on the side of the Assad regime in September 2015. In a report entitled “Strategy of Murder and Arrogance,” the Network said that Moscow has committed thousands of crimes in Syria and repeatedly used its veto power on the UN Security Council to shield the Assad regime from any punishment.
Head of the Coalition’s Media Department Ahmed Ramadan said that Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged about using 120 types of weapons in Syria, describing it as a “cowardly act.”
Ramadan described the humanitarian situation in eastern Ghouta as catastrophic. He said that the people have been locked up inside underground shelters for two weeks amid severe shortages of food and medicine. Rescue workers are working in extremely difficult conditions to lift the rubble and rescue the victims with emergency response as low as below 20 percent. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)