Rebels and their families will be moved from Thursday in one of last opposition-held towns
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Why Iran May Fall Out With Russia Over Syria
UPDATE 1930 GMT: Reports say pro-Assad warplanes have accidentally struck a Damascus neighborhood with incendiary munitions, killing and injuring several people.
Syrian State outlet SANA has not referred to the incident. A pro-Assad blog has tried to pass off the attack as shelling by “militants”.
About 7,500 people will be moved in a capitulation deal for Harasta, one of the last opposition-held towns in East Ghouta near Syria’s Damascus.
The arrangement was confirmed on Thursday between the rebel faction Ahrar al-Sham and Russia, which has been allied with the Assad regime in the assault on East Ghouta that has killed about 1,600 people and wounded and displaced many thousands since early February.
Under the capitulation, about 1,500 rebels and 6,000 family members will be removed to opposition-held Idlib Province in northwest Syria. The deal was confirmed after a Wednesday meeting between an Assad regime delegation and opposition representatives.
Munther Fares, an Ahrar al-Sham spokesman, said the removal will begin on Thursday at 7 am local time. He said there will be guarantee against pro-Assad attacks, and that “families who want to stay will be given guarantees by the Syrian government and the Russians that no harm will come to them, and the city will not be subjected to displacement or demographic change”.
Fares added that civilians inside and outside Harasta will form a committee to follow up the affairs of those remaining.
Ahrar al-Sham has been the main faction trying to hold Harasta against the bombardment and siege of the Assad regime and its foreign allies, including Russian warplanes.
The other two rebel factions in East Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman, are trying to defend the remaining towns after pro-Assad forces took more than 70% of the territory in the seven-week assault.
Fighters had been reduced to one meal every two days in Harasta, and local activist Tayyim al-Siyoufi said, “Every day there are 20 warplanes hovering above us that fire around 200 shellings.”
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 34 people, including 18 children and five women, were killed by pro-Assad attacks on Wednesday. Among the dead were three White Helmets rescuers and media activist Suhaib Ayoun, slain in Douma in East Ghouta.
3 #SyriaCivilDefense members killed in #Douma#easternGhouta
More: https://t.co/TB7Tk447cj#Orient pic.twitter.com/G2NxvjH8qp— Orient News English (@OrientNewsEn) March 22, 2018
Pro-Assad Airstrikes Kill 40+, Including Tens of Children, in Idlib Province
UPDATE 1930 GMT: Local sources says two pro-Assad airstrikes have hit marketplaces in the border town of Harem. Initial estimates said 20 people were killed and more than 50 injured.
A new massacre has just now struck #Harem City #Idlib countryside. The target was a vegetable market inside the city. @SyriaCivilDefe teams are working urgently to respond to the rising victim toll which at last count was 20, evacuating them from the fallout of the bombing. pic.twitter.com/wsIj1WNibJ
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 22, 2018
Pro-Assad airstrikes killed 20 civilians, including 16 children, inside a bomb shelter near a school in central Idlib Province on Wednesday.
At least three airstrikes struck the village of Kafr Batikh, 20 km (12.5 miles) southeast of Idlib city, in the morning. First responders said the attack was by Russian warplanes.
During the attack, students at the Kafr Batikh Elementary School fled to a nearby bomb shelter. About 10 am, two further airstrikes landed near the shelter, collapsing it on those hiding inside.
“It took four hours for us to find all of the dead,” Layth Faris said. “Talking about it is different from seeing it.”
Videos and pictures showed first responders carrying lifeless children in their arms, while other rescuers used heavy equipment to bore into the collapsed shelter in search of survivors.
“There were children huddled together in a corner—all still wearing their backpacks,” Faris said. “Even those with hearts of stone cried when they went into the shelter.”
Hasan al-Mukhtar, a local journalist and photographer who filmed the aftermath of the airstrikes, said there is “no military presence” in the village, which is 20 km (12.5 miles) west of the nearest rebel frontlines with pro-Assad forces.
Nominally, Idlib Province is a “de-escalation zone”, announced by Russia in spring 2017. However, pro-Assad forces — and Russia — have continued the ground and air assault upon the opposition-held territory.
A pro-Assad offensive, enabled by Russian airstrikes, took parts of southeast Idlib Province early this year. The advance was halted when pro-Assad forces were redeployed for the assault on East Ghouta near Damascus.
