Assault continues on Kafr Batna; claim of fleeing civilians hit by airstrike


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Syria Developing: Turkish-Rebel Force Takes Kurdish City of Afrin


UPDATE 1455 GMT: After his forces and their allies have killed and wounded thousands of people, Bashar al-Assad shows up in East Ghouta to celebrate:

ASSAD EAST GHOUTA 03-18

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UPDATE 1200 GMT: Noor and Alaa, the sisters who have been using social media to tell the world about the situation in East Ghouta, in their latest message:


Even as thousands more people displaced from and within East Ghouta, near Syria’s capital Damascus, pro-Assad attacks killed more than 30 civilians on Saturday.

The death toll included 15 children and six women. Dozens more people were injured in the ongoing assault that has taken more than half the opposition enclave since early February, while killing more than 1,500 people, injuring thousands, and damaging at least 22 medical facilities.

Unconfirmed claims said airstrikes on Zamalka killed 30 people gathering to leave for regime lines on Saturday morning.

East Ghouta had more than 350,000 residents before the Assad regime and foreign allies attacked, including intensive airstrikes by Russian and regime airplanes. The UN said on Friday that about 12,000 had left for regime frontlines in the past week, while thousands moved deeper into the enclave. Many of the displaced are from Hamouriya, where relentless pro-Assad attacks have killed scores of civilians and destroyed much of the town — fighting is ongoing for control.

On the ground, reports circulated that pro-Assad forces moved into part of the town of Kafr Batna, after killing more than 40 civilians — many burned to death — on Friday.

A regime tank burns near Hamouriya:

HAMOURIYA FIGHTING 17-03-18

The regime is asking all displaced men between the ages of 15-60 to sign a statement, “I pledge not to return to armed actions.”

Khaled Hamad, a shepherd, said he signed a pledge after leaving Hamoouriya with his wife and five children on a tractor: “They said now we were within the state’s embrace.”

He said that conditions were so harsh that his family ate their cow’s food.

Hamad added that rebels had fired at his brother, killing him and injuring his sons, for trying to leave.

“The End is Near”

Journalist Elizabeth Tsurkov relays information from local sources:

Tsurkov continues:

Some activists are waiting for death, others are begging to be allowed to be displaced to rebel-held territory rather than be incarcerated and tortured by the regime. Seems most civilians just want this to stop, ready to accept anything to stay alive.


Analysis: Turkish Fire Did Hit Part of Afrin Hospital

An analysis on the site Feit of Fake, with detailed geolocation from videos and photographs, concludes that Turkish forces did strike a hospital in the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwest Syria.

Kurdish officials and the YPG militia claimed on Friday that 15 people were killed in the attack.

The Turkish military claimed that they did not hit the hospital. They released a video showing an undamaged building on Saturday morning.

However, Feit of Fake identifies a building adjacent to the main facility which was damaged. Further analysis indicates this became part of the complex as it expanded.

The site suggests that the damage is from mortar fire, not an airstrike, although it says this remains to be confirmed.

The Turkish rebel ground offensive, launched on January 20, has taken much of Afrin canton including territory on the Syrian-Turkish border and towns such as Rajo and Jinderes. It now surrounds Afrin city.

The UN said on Friday that 48,000 people have fled the canton.