Syrian raids kills 32 more people

U.N. to vote on resolution for immediate 30-day cease-fire

This photo released Friday by the activist group Ghouta Media Center shows smoke rising after Syrian government airstrikes hit Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.
This photo released Friday by the activist group Ghouta Media Center shows smoke rising after Syrian government airstrikes hit Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.

BEIRUT -- Syrian government warplanes supported by Russia continued their relentless bombardment of the rebel-controlled eastern suburbs of Damascus for a sixth day Friday, killing 32 people, opposition activists and a war monitor reported. The death toll from the past week climbed to more than 400.

The new wave of bombings came a day after the Syrian army dropped leaflets over rebel-held eastern suburbs of the capital, Damascus, calling on residents to leave for their own safety and urging opposition fighters to hand themselves over. The leaflets were dropped by helicopters over the area known as eastern Ghouta, telling residents that they are surrounded on all sides by the Syrian army.

The number of casualties has overwhelmed rescuers and doctors at hospitals, many of which have also been bombed.

The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense rescue group on Friday reported new airstrikes in Douma, Arbeen and other towns that make up the suburbs known as eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 32 people were killed in raids on areas including Hammouriyeh, Zamalka, Douma and al-Marj. The Britain-based group monitors the Syria war through a network of activists on the ground.

Syrian state TV reported Friday that insurgents fired 70 shells on Damascus, killing one person and wounding 60 others.

At the United Nations, a vote on a Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire across Syria was delayed until today to try to close a gap over the timing of a halt to fighting.

The resolution would allow attacks directed at extremists from the Islamic State group and all al-Qaida affiliates, including the Levant Liberation Committee, to continue. The Syrian government and its Russian allies say they are pursuing Islamic extremists and terrorists.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called a 30-day cease-fire unrealistic and proposed an amendment to delay it.

In an apparent bid to get Russian support, sponsors Kuwait and Sweden amended the draft resolution to drop a demand that the cease-fire take effect 72 hours after the resolution's adoption.

Instead, the new text circulated Friday night "demands that all parties cease hostilities without delay."

Kuwait's U.N. Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaiba, the current council president, and Sweden's U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog told reporters Friday evening after six hours of negotiations that members were very close to agreement on a text -- but there was still a gap.

"We all agree there needs to be a cease-fire and it has to be urgent, immediately," Sweden's U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog told reporters. "There are still some discussions on exactly how to define that. So that's what we're working on."

Skoog said he was "extremely frustrated" that the council was unable to adopt the resolution on Thursday or Friday because the situation on the ground is dire.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called again in a statement for an urgent cease-fire to relieve the "appalling suffering" of civilians in eastern Ghouta by stopping the bombing there and the "indiscriminate" mortar shelling of Damascus.

A main Syrian opposition group called on the international community to prevent Russia from voting on the new resolution, saying Moscow is part of the conflict in the Arab country.

Russia has been a main backer for Syrian President Bashar Assad and has joined the battle on his side since 2015, tipping the balance of power in his favor. Opposition activists say Russian warplanes are taking part in bombarding eastern Ghouta.

Salwa Aksoy, vice president of the Syrian National Coalition, told reporters in Turkey that according to the U.N. charter, countries that are part of a conflict have no right to vote on draft resolutions.

The United States accused Assad of planning "to bomb or starve" opponents in besieged eastern Ghouta into submission -- just as his forces did in Aleppo.

At the White House, President Donald Trump blamed Russia, Iran and the Syrian government for the recent violence in Syria, calling it a "humanitarian disgrace." His comments came at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Separately, Human Rights Watch on Friday criticized the way Turkey is conducting its offensive in northern Syria, saying it has failed to take necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties. The New York-based group cited three attacks in the Afrin region in late January that it says killed a total of 26 civilians, including 17 children. In a statement, it called on Turkey to thoroughly investigate these strikes and make the findings public.

Turkey launched an air and ground offensive in the Kurdish-controlled region on Jan. 20, saying it aims to clear Afrin of Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units, which Turkey considers to be an offshoot of its own outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting in Turkey.

The People's Protection Units on Friday accused Turkey of bombing a convoy of civilians that was crossing into Afrin to protest Turkey's offensive, resulting in multiple casualties who were moved to hospitals in Afrin for treatment.

Syrian state TV had on Thursday night said a convoy carrying aid and heading toward Afrin had been targeted by Turkish artillery, inflicting casualties.

The incident came two days after pro-government fighters began entering the predominantly Kurdish town to shore up the Kurdish forces, after reaching an agreement with the People's Protection Units.

Turkey's military said Friday that it hit a convoy carrying weapons and ammunition in the countryside of a Kurdish-held enclave in northern Syria.

Information for this article was contributed by Zeynep Bilginsoy, Edith M. Lederer and Zeyna Karam of The Associated Press.

A Section on 02/24/2018

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