“They have all the people who fled East Ghouta in concentration camps”

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UPDATE 1855 GMT: Despite the relative lull in attacks, shelling of Douma continued yesterday. An attack injured a White Helmets volunteer:

Pro-Assad bombing of East Ghouta, near Syria’s capital Damascus, paused on Monday; however, claims circulated that militia have executed or abducted almost 200 civilians.

In a seven-week offensive killing more than 1,600 people and wounding thousands, the Assad regime and foreign allies, enabled by Russian bombing, have taken almost all of the area held by the opposition since 2012. The enclave has been reduced to a few square kilometers in and near its center, Douma.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported the killing of three people, including two children, yesterday.

But pro-opposition outlets and activists claimed the execution of 23 men in the town of Kafr Batna by a pro-Assad miitia from the Damascus suburb of Jaramana.

The reports said five women were abducted, as were 150 residents of Saqba, including the director of the al-Bashar relief organization.

Unconfirmed claims said some of those seized were being taken to Tartous in western Syria and face retribution by Assad supporters.

An activist warned, in a statement to EA, “They have all the people who fled East Ghouta in concentration camps, as well as the few who chose to stay in their homes. Most of the crimes will be commited later on, once the attention of the mainstream media has vanished.”

Reports are circulating of looting by militia “pouring into the area to steal household furnishings and electrical appliances and sell them in the al-Assad suburb area at low prices”.

From Harasta:

The pro-opposition Zaman al-Wasl, citing local activists and relatives, said thousands of people forcibly displaced from East Ghouta have been put in “detention camps”.

Mohamad al-Basha said his relatives, who fled Hamouriya, are with 6,000 other people in a camp near Adra, north of Damascus. He claimed men between the ages of 16 and 50 have been put in detention.

Hossam al-Masri, a relative of another detainee in the camp, said there are restrictions on those wishing to visit family, including several security permits.

The UN’s Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs:

Men under guard in Harasta, in a photo posted by Orient News:

SAQBA MEN GUARDED

Journalist Danny Makki offers a view of the destruction:

“World’s 6th Largest Tank Fleet Destroyed”

A detailed review of evidence, for Bellingcat, assesses that the Assad regime has lost at least 2,037 armored vehicles in the seven-year conflict.

Before the uprising began in March 2011, the Syrian Arab Army was estimated to have 4,500 tanks, 3,000 armored personnel carriers; 630 support vehicles; and 400 self-propelled artillery.

Analyst Jakub Janovský says the loss rate of about 25% is conservative, as some armor was lost or out of operation before the conflict and the estimate of 2,037 damaged or destroyed only takes into account verified losses.

Turkey-Rebel Offensive Moves on Key Town of Tal Rifaat

The Turkish-rebel offensive in northwest Syria has announced the launch of operations to take the key town of Tal Rifaat near the Turkish-Syrian border.

Tal Rifaat is one of the last towns held by Kurdish forces in the northwest since Operation Olive Branch, launched on January 20, swept through the Kurdish canton of Afrin.

Last week the offensive moved into Afrin city, the heart of the canton, after the Turkish-rebel force took all area along the border and other Kurdish towns.

Tal Rifaat, taken by the Kurdish militia YPG from rebels in February 2016, is on the road between the rebel-held border town of Azaz and regime-held Aleppo city. It is also close to the fortified regime towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa.

Some observers had speculated that Turkey would hold back from the operation because of the Assad regime’s desire to take Tal Rifaat.

But Ankara indicated that it had won Russia’s acceptance to make its move. A pro-Assad outlet supports this with the assertion of the withdrawal of Russian personnel from the town.