Air strikes killed at least 23 civilians, including five children, in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on Wednesday (7 February), the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
This latest bombardment came the day after at least 80 people were killed by air strikes in the same region, again according the British-based war monitor.
IBTimes UK shares photos taken in Eastern Ghouta over the last two days. They show streets in the stricken area covered in all-enveloping dust on Monday as one strike after another hit the same neighbourhoods; members of the White Helmets pull survivors from the debris of destroyed homes; blood-soaked children are patched up in makeshift hospitals. The same scenes are repeated again on Tuesday.
6 February 2018: A building burns following reported air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region, on the outskirts of the Syrian capitalHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP6 February 2018: Civil defence members and civilians run through the dust after an air raid in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/Reuters6 February 2018: A man carries a child as he flees from reported air strikes that hit the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A Syrian looks at a destroyed building following reported air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP6 February 2018: Syrians look for survivors in the rubble of houses that were destroyed following reported air strikes in the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: Syrian civil defence volunteers (White Helmets) and civilians attempt to remove rubble from the site of a collapsed building while searching for survivors or victims following reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Arbin, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: Syrians carry an injured man who was rescued from beneath the ruins of a building that collapsed following reported air strikes in the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A man hands over a child to his father after being rescued from beneath the ruins of a building that collapsed following reported air strikes in the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: Syrian men look for survivors amid the rubble following reported air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region, on the outskirts of the capital DamascusHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP6 February 2018: A bandaged Syrian girl who was injured in reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Kafr Batna, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region, sits in a clinicAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A Syrian youth cries as he mourns over his sister who was killed in reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: Syrian paramedics tend to a child who was injured during reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A Syrian man who was injured in reported air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region, receives treatment at a makeshift hospitalHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP6 February 2018: Syrian volunteers prepare for burial the body of a victim killed in reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Kafr Batna, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A Syrian civil defence volunteer or White Helmet performs sunset prayers next to a building that collapsed following reported regime air strikes in the rebel-held town of Arbin, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta regionAbdulmonam Eassa/AFP6 February 2018: A man walks past a pool of blood after an air raid in the besieged town of Douma in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of DamascusBassam Khabieh/Reuters7 February 2018: A Syrian air force MiG-23 jet drops its payload during a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Arbin, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region, on the outskirts of the capital DamascusAmer Almohibany/AFP7 February 2018: Smoke and dust plumes rise following a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Arbin, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital DamascusAmer Almohibany/AFP7 February 2018: A man with blood running down his leg walks in the dust following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region, on the outskirts of the capital DamascusHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 December 2018: A member of the Syrian Civil Defence carries an injured child following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 February 2018: A woman gestures as she walks through the rubble of damaged buildings after an air strike in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/Reuters7 February 2018: Children run over the rubble of damaged buildings after an air strike in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/Reuters7 February 2018: A man carries a child through clouds of dust after an air strike in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/Reuters7 February 2018: A member of the White Helmets searches the rubble in a burning after an air strike in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/Reuters7 February 2018: A Syrian man searches for people in a burning building following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 February 2018: A member of the Syrian civil defence force, or White Helmet, carries two children out of the rubble of buildings following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 February 2018: Syrians carry the body of a seriously wounded man following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 February 2018: An injured woman is carried on a stretcher after an air strike in the besieged town of Douma in eastern GhoutaBassam Khabieh/ReutersEmergency services carry a wounded man to an ambulance following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP7 February 2018: An injured Syrian child waits to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital following air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP
7 February 2018: A man at a makeshift morgue checks the bodies of victims of air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta regionHamza Al-Ajweh/AFP
"Minute after minute, the number of casualties rises," a rescuer from the White Helmets said in a video from eastern Ghouta posted on the group's Facebook page. "No area at all in Ghouta is safe. ... We don't know what to say."
The air strikes and shelling have overwhelmed rescue workers. The United Nations called for an immediate, month-long cease-fire in order to deliver critical humanitarian aid and medical care to civilians across the country. The UN mission in Damascus warned of "dire consequences" to the humanitarian crises in Syria, identifying seven areas needing urgent relief. The ongoing fighting and deliberate obstructions by forces were preventing aid organisations from reaching civilians, it said.
The Ghouta region, east of the capital Damascus, is home to nearly 400,000 people trapped by the violence and tightening siege.
The punishing campaign by the Syrian government and its ally, Russia, has also battered the northwestern province of Idlib, the largest area under opposition control in Syria. The Idlib offensive has hit hospitals and residential buildings, and has intensified after militants in Idlib shot down a Russian Su-25 fighter jet near the town of Saraqeb over the weekend.
The children's organisation Save the Children said in a statement that the escalation in the opposition-held enclave of Idlib is placing thousands of children in extreme danger. It said more than 30 schools supported by Save the Children and its partners in the area have had to close temporarily due to security fears. Hundreds of families, many of whom have already been displaced and left living in tents that provide no shelter from bombs or shells, have come under increasing fire and have been left with almost nowhere left to turn, it added.
