Syrian government forces on Sunday stepped up their bombardment on cities and towns of the Damascus Ghouta area, striking a kindergarten and a popular market and claiming a number of civilian victims.
The Ghouta Media Center, an activist media group, said that at least five civilians were killed in addition to dozens being wounded in the city of Hamouriyah, when Assad regime forces heavily bombed a popular market in the city with artillery fire.
At the same time, the Syrian satellite channel Al-Jisr TV announced the death of its correspondent, Qais al-Qadi, and the wounding of cameraman Omar al-Dimashqi during their coverage of the events in Hamouriyah.
The regime’s escalation on the Ghouta also resulted in the shelling of a kindergarten in Kfar Batna, with the Ghouta Media Center publishing a viedo showing a moment of panic which struck the children who were trying to flee from the area. The Center added that a number of the children were wounded during the bombing.
In parallel, regime forces hit the city of Saqba, with activists in the Eastern Ghouta recording the killing of at least one civilian, while the city of Douma was subjected to similar bombardment.
This bombardment came hours before the launch of the Astana 7 talks which will discuss the “de-escalation” zones in Syria. Meanwhile, the Assad regime is continuing its siege of the Eastern Ghouta, where children are dying from starvation amid the regime’s insistence on preventing the entry of aid for about 400,000 besieged civilians.
Despite July’s announcement of the establishment of de-escalation zones in the Eastern Ghouta, Russia and the Assad regime have not complied with the truce, instead continuing their bombardment on the Ghouta’s towns and cities.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
