Syria regime attacks in E. Ghouta leave 3 children dead

By Adham Kako

EASTERN GHOUTA, Syria

At least three children were killed on Wednesday by regime shelling in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district, a suburb of Damascus, according to local sources.

Sources from Syrian civil-defense units, also known as the “White Helmets”, said two children from the same family had been killed by regime shelling in Eastern Ghouta’s Arbin neighborhood.

A third child, a young girl, was killed when regime forces shelled residential parts of the nearby Haresta neighborhood, the same sources said.

Civil-defense units reportedly rushed to the scene of the attacks to treat the injured and transport them to lcoal hospitals.

Syrian regime forces have recently stepped up their attacks on Eastern Ghouta, even though the district falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- endorsed by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Over the course of the past week, regime forces have carried out repeated attacks on the district, leaving dozens of civilian residents dead or injured.

At least 85 civilians have been killed by regime attacks in the area since Nov. 14, according to local civil-defense sources.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10 million displaced, according to claims by the UN.