Syria’s regime sent reinforcements to Eastern Ghouta today, tightening the noose around the shrinking rebel enclave hours before a top-level UN meeting on the escalating violence.
The blistering onslaught has prompted outrage against the regime, with the United Nations’ human rights chief saying the government was orchestrating an “apocalypse” in Syria.
The Russia-backed Syrian army and allied militia launched an offensive on February 18 to retake the last opposition bastion near Damascus.
They have since taken more than 40 per cent of the enclave, waging a devastating bombing campaign that has killed more than 800 civilians.
Heavy air strikes battered several key towns in the zone today, as Syria’s government dispatched hundreds of pro-government militiamen to the front.
“At least 700 Afghan, Palestinian, and Syrian loyalist militiamen came from Aleppo and were sent late Tuesday to Ghouta,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.