No let-up in assault as Russia sets up backing of Assad regime

THURSDAY FEATURE

VideoCast with ABC: “Hell on Earth” — Pro-Assad Assault on East Ghouta

UPDATE 1030 GMT: Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has continued to set up the rationale for Russia’s support of — and possible involvement in — pro-Assad attacks on East Ghouta:

Those supporting terrorists who are still active in Eastern Ghouta are responsible for the situation there. Neither Russia nor Syria nor Iran are among these countries but it is they who have been resolutely fighting against terrorists on the ground in Syria.

At least 38 people were killed on Wednesday in East Ghouta, near Syria’s capital Damascus, as the death toll since Monday from pro-Assad attacks neared 300.

Preparing for an invasion of the besieged area with almost 400,000 people, the Assad regime and its allies are bombing, shelling, and rocketing towns across East Ghouta. In a six-day period earlier in February, at least 230 people were slain and more than 800 injured.

This week’s escalation has already surpassed even that mass killing, with almost 100 people slain on Monday and more than 100 perishing on Tuesday. At least seven medical facilities have been damaged, three of them knocked out of service.

Rescuers in Saqba:

The UN, aid agencies, and foreign governments all called on Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting:

My appeal to all those involved is for an immediate suspension of all war activities in Eastern Ghouta. This is a human tragedy that is unfolding in front of our eyes, and I don’t think we can let things go on happening in this horrendous way.

Guterres supported a Swedish and Kuwaiti initiative for a 30-day ceasefire. Diplomats said the Security Council could vote on a draft resolution in the coming days.

The Red Cross head in Syria, Marianne Gasser, bolstered the appeal:

The fighting appears likely to cause much more suffering in the days and weeks ahead. Wounded victims are dying only because they cannot be treated in time. In some areas of Ghouta, entire families have no safe place to go.

But Russia, the essential backer of the Assad regime, immediately moved to block any cessation of attacks. “We cannot simply decide that there is a ceasefire. That’s a long and complex process to achieve,” said Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.

And a pro-Assad commander, likely from Hezbollah, indicated that this week’s casualties are only a prelude to even greater tolls: “The offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing.”

“Hell on Earth”

In East Ghouta, residents and aid workers talked about “hell on earth”. Activist Mouayad Mohildeen said, “There’s a lot of dead people here, there’s a lot of injuries. Medical points are out of service. We feel betrayed by the international community,” he said.

The White Helmets civil defense sent out alerts of impending airstrikes every few minutes on Wednesday, such as “the estimated arrival time for the plane to reach the most bombed parts of eastern Ghouta…Harasta: two minutes from now”.

Construction worker Abdullah Kahala spoke of an attack on his home as he was having breakfast with his wife and six children:

I saw Hala and Sara lying in blood with their mother hysterical and our other children shell-shocked on the floor,” he said in a voice message.

Bombs were falling everywhere near our house. We have been spending the last week digging into the rubble of nearby areas with our bare hands.

An aid worker with a local organization supported by the international agency CARE reported, “Unlike previous airstrikes, destruction has reached every area this time. There is no place for people to go – no shelter, no safety.”

A journalist in East Ghouta simply tweeted:

Russia Denies Involvement in Strikes

While moving to check any effort for a ceasefire, Russia denied local reports that it has joined the assault, setting aside the agreement it signed with rebels last July for a “de-escalation zone”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the reports were “groundless”.

But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already set up the pretext for Moscow’s participation, even if it has not yet begun. Lavrov said on Tuesday that an operation of East Ghouta might be need that was similar to the siege and months of deadly bombing, led by Russia, that forced the capitulation of east Aleppo city in December 2016.

The Foreign Minister claimed that it might be necessary to confront the hardline Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra — even though the group, now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, has almost no presence in East Ghouta.

Russia’s Center for Reconciliation bolstered the pretext late Tuesday with the argument that an offensive is needed to stop rebels firing rockets and mortars on Damascus: “Today, residential areas, Damascus hotels, as well as Russia’s Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, received massive bombardment by illegal armed groups from eastern Ghouta.”

Syrian State media claimed that seven people were wounded by rebel mortar fire on Wednesday, following its allegations that the rebels killed at least 13 people and injured 77 the previous day.

UN officials estimated that more than 50 mortar shells struck the capital.

Spokesmen for Jaish al-Islam and Failaq a-Rahman, the two major rebel factions in East Ghouta, denied the shelling.

“We do not target civilians in Damascus,” said Jaish al-Islam spokesman Hamzah Beriqdar. Both he and Failaq al-Rahman spokesman Wael Alwan accused “pro-Assad militias” of shelling the government-held city.

On Thursday morning, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on British radio, “There is sufficient moral outrage and, frankly, awareness, that this cannot be another Aleppo.”

He called for a ceasefire, be it for a month or a day, and called on Iran, Russia, Turkey to act. He did not explain how Russian objections, in support of the pro-Assad attacks, could be overcome.