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”:
الطفلة #حبيبة تبصق بوجه أحد إعلاميي النظام الذي قال هذه حبيبة ابنة بشار الأسد pic.twitter.com/jvWwx6Zna6
— عبدالله البشير (@AbdullahAlbsher) March 15, 2018
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:
الله اكبر والعزة لله#شاهد جثث الكلاب بطرقام حمورية بعد ان دعس الثوار على اكبر مرتزق فيهم واخرجوهم من البلدة خاسئين #المركز_الاعلامي_الحر pic.twitter.com/KXou3hEvR0
— المركز الاعلامي الحر (@MediaCenterfr) March 15, 2018
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:
We have nothing on this earth destroying my house and we lost everything we have.Despite all this,the Russian bombing did not stop on the eastern Ghouta waiting for death at any moment and perhaps now.The world watches us We kill every day without moving to save us Thank O world pic.twitter.com/SATYwTgRuv
— muhammad najem (@muhammadnajem20) March 16, 2018
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.
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:
"Hassan al-Husseini" another #WhiteHelmets hero, we lost him taday during his humanitarian duty in #Saqba city in #EasternGhouta after #Assad regime targeted the residential neighborhoods with heavy machine guns. #SaveGhouta #Syria pic.twitter.com/OIJTCaYGg5
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 16, 2018
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.