UPDATE 1200 GMT: Local sources say regime and Russian airstrikes have killed dozens of people in East Ghouta this morning.

At least 57 people have reportedly been slain. The toll included 31 people in Kafr Batna and 10 in Saqba.

Video of charred bodies in Kafr Batna (Warning — Graphic Images):

UPDATE 1130 GMT: As survivors from East Ghouta are put on State TV, trying to show support for the regime, a little girl spits in the face of the man who says, “This is Habiba, the daughter of Bashar al-Assad”:

Rebels claimed they hit back on Thursday at the pro-Assad assault on East Ghouta near Syria’s capital Damascus, as thousands of people fled the area of fighting.

Having lost more than half of the opposition enclave in the past month, rebels — led by the Failaq al-Rahman faction — counter-attacked in Hamouriya, which pro-Assad forces had occupied on Wednesday after regime-Russian airstrikes and shelling had leveled much of the town and killed scores of civilians.

By the evening, rebels claimed they had retaken the town in the southern part of East Ghouta. They said they had inflicted dozens of casualties and destroyed three regime tanks.

Rebels also said they are attacking the town of Saqba.

Residents of Hamouriya said the situation amid the pro-Assad assault was “like Judgement Day”, with about 5,000 remaining in the town and all communication cut off and rescuers unable to reach the slain and injured.

The Russian “Center for Reconciliation” and pro-Assad outlets tried to portray the forced departure of those who left Hamouriya as an “evacuation”.

In the Orwellian phrase of the day, Syrian State news agency declares a “Hamouriya safe corridor”.

Rebels re-entering Hamouriya and encountering bodies on the street:

In Douma, the center of East Ghouta, a 25-truck aid convoy reached the town but reportedly faced shelling from pro-Assad forces.

It was the second disruption of an attempted delivery in a week. A 46-truck convoy — only the third allowed by the Assad regime since last summer, amid a five-year siege — could only unload half its aid last week because of fear of shelling and airstrikes.

Mhammad Najem, 15, reports from East Ghouta:

Suheil al-Hassan, the commander of the paramilitary Tiger Forces and an icon for many Assad supporters, is flanked by Russian guards as he looks down on Damascus.

AL-HASSAN DAMASCUS

Another White Helmet Rescuer Killed

Several White Helmet volunteers have been slain in recent days, including the co-founder of the civil defense in East Ghouta. The organization reports on the latest victim:

The White Helmets, estimated to have saved more than 100,000 people since the group was formed in 2013, have lost more than 200 volunteers to regime and Russian attacks.