The United Nations on Sunday demanded an end to attacks on civilians in the capital Damascus and nearby neighborhoods as escalating bombardment by the Assad regime and its allies has killed dozens in recent days.
The Directorate of Education in Rural Damascus on Sunday announced it was extending the suspension of schools as a result of the relentless bombardment.
The Directorate, which is run by the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), said that schools would be suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the heavy bombardment by the Assad regime forces and their allies on towns and villages of eastern Ghouta.
On Sunday, UN coordinator for humanitarian and development affairs in Syria Ali Al Zaatari said: “For days, there have been daily reports about civilians being killed and others being severely wounded, in addition to warehouses, hospitals and schools being put out of service during the exchange of shellfire, particularly in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta.”
“The United Nations hopes for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of secure humanitarian corridors to evacuate wounded, sick, and elderly people, as well as children, as soon as possible from areas seeing hostile operations,” Zaatari said.
Regime forces have escalated their bombardment of eastern Ghouta in recent days though the rebel-held area is covered by the ‘de-escalation zones’ agreement. In addition to reducing violence, the agreement called for allowing humanitarian deliveries into the besieged and hard-to-reach areas, a call that is the Assad regime continues to reject.
The Syrian Coalition earlier emphasized that the fierce attacks being carried out by regime forces and their allies on the Damascus suburbs and rural Aleppo are clearly aimed at undermining all chances for a political solution by violating all agreements in place and insisting on carrying on with murder and crimes.
Heavy bombardment by regime forces on eastern has resulted in the death of 63 civilians, including 13 children and the wounding of at least 427 more in eastern Ghouta since last Wednesday. Eastern Gouta has been suffering a suffocating siege since 2013, resulting in severe shortages of food and medical supplies. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
