Siege of Eastern Ghouta
Siege of Eastern Ghouta | ||||||||||
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Part of the Ghouta by the Syrian Air Force on 8 February 2018 | ||||||||||
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Belligerents | ||||||||||
Jaysh al-Islam [1] |
Iran Russia (since 2015) Allied militias: Hezbollah Palestinian Syrian militias LAAG Arab Nationalist Guard[3] Liwa Fatemiyoun[4] Lions of Hussein[5] |
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013 – July 2014)[6]
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Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
Essam al-Buwaydhani Abdul al-Nasr Shamir |
Suheil al-Hassan | Unknown | ||||||||
Units involved | ||||||||||
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National Defence Forces Syrian Air Force Palestinian Syrian militias | Unknown | ||||||||
Strength | ||||||||||
10,000 (in 2016)[23] 20,000 (in 2018)[24][25] | 15,000 (in 2018)[15] | Unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
10,000+ killed (2012–18)[26] | 10,000+ killed (2012–18)[26] | Unknown | ||||||||
20,000 killed civilians (March 2011 to February 2018, per SNHR)[27] ~30,000 killed overall (Eastern Ghouta hospital sources, 2017)[28] 105,000[29]–140,000[30] displaced (2018) |
The siege of Eastern Ghouta was a siege that was laid by
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2401, adopted on February 28, 2018, called for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria for 30 days, including Eastern Ghouta, but the Syrian Army continued the offensive. In March 2018, the Syrian Army split the enclave into three parts, reaching an agreement with the rebels to withdraw to the north, to Idlib. This action displaced 105,000 people from the area. Douma was the only city left by the end of that month that was not under Syrian government control.
On April 8, 2018, on the anniversary of the 2017
Thousands of people were killed during this 5-year siege period. Numerous allegations of
Background
Prior to the
History
In mid-2017, the main rebel faction in the area was
In August 2013, the area was subjected to a chemical attack that killed hundreds of people,[42] after which an agreement was made to ban chemical weapons in Syria. From 14 to 30 November 2017, the Russian-Syrian forces conducted more than 400 airstrikes in the area, hitting markets, schools and houses, and during some of those airstrikes allegedly using banned cluster munition.[43]
Despite efforts at turning Ghouta into a de-escalation zone, reports of bombs allegedly containing weaponised chlorine were registered again in early 2018.[44] By January 2018, the area had only a single doctor per 3,600 people.[45] Inter-rebel fighting in 2016 and once again in 2017 deteriorated the situation even further, showing a lack of unity among the rebel groups.
After a series of
In mid-late March after a series of negotiations, a deal was finally reached between the Syrian government and rebels that controlled parts of Eastern Ghouta. The deal involved a transfer of remaining rebel fighters from the areas of eastern Harasta, Zamalka and surrounding areas to the province of Idlib. 105,000 people were displaced by this evacuation from the area.[29] By the end of March, Douma was the last pocket controlled by the rebels, the Jaish al-Islam fighters.[51]
For at least 10 days, there were minimal attacks on the rebel pocket of Douma as talks with the Jaish al-Islam continued. It was reported later that the Jaish al-Islam shelled residential areas in Damascus, causing casualties and material damage. By 6 April, talks had "faltered" between the two sides and the SAA renewed their offensive in response to the attack. The Jaish al-Islam denied responsibility.[52][53] The rebel group had also reportedly refused to release detainees loyal to the Syrian government it was holding in Douma.[54] The shelling on 8 April 2018, which left several civilians dead, drew allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma, though the UN could not verify the claim initially.[55]
Casualties
In February 2018, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a UK-based non-governmental organization, founded in June 2011, published a report alleging that 12,783 civilians were killed in and around Eastern Ghouta from March 2011 to February 2018, including 1,463 children and 1,127 women.[27]
According to local hospital sources, which were cited in the French newspaper Le Monde, approximately 18,000 people were killed in the enclave by October 2017.[28]
Médecins Sans Frontières claimed that 70 percent of the enclave's population lived underground by November 2017 to escape bombardments. It also registered that, on average, 71 people were being killed daily since the 18 February 2018 offensive. It registered 1,005 people killed and 4,829 wounded in two weeks alone, between 18 February and 3 March 2018.[56]
War crimes allegations
Government and allies
Numerous
In December 2017, satellite imagery analysis by UN experts concluded that 3,853 buildings were destroyed, 5,141 severely damaged and 3,547 moderately damaged in the western parts of the enclave. The suburb of Jobar was 93% destroyed, Ein Tarma 73%, and Zamalka 59%.[66] Hospitals in Eastern Ghouta were reported to have been shelled: Syrian army forces destroyed a field hospital in Al-Zemaniyah during a ground operation in July 2013, while shells landed near Al-Fatih hospital, where victims of the chemical attack were treated, forcing it to discharge its patients.[59] Between 4 and 21 February 2018, the Syrian-Russian bombardments killed 346 people in Eastern Ghouta.[67] Local counts reported 700 deaths in the three months up to mid-February 2018, many of them civilians.[68] On 7 December 2017, the United Nations Senior Advisor Jan Egeland called east Ghouta the "epicenter of suffering".[69]
After the end of the siege, tens of thousands of people have been unlawfully
Rebel groups
The United Nations also found the four largest rebel factions that were active in eastern Ghouta, namely Jaysh al-Islam, the Al-Rahman Legion, Ahrar al-Sham, and Tahrir al-Sham, guilty of crimes against humanity. They were known to arrest and torture members of religious minority groups,[24] and regularly fired mortars and rockets from eastern Ghouta at government-held areas. These attacks aimed at spreading terror, and killed many civilians.[2][24][71][72]
Reactions
United Nations
2013: After the alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ghouta area of Damascus, the UN sent an inspection team to begin an investigation. The final report concluded that evidence suggests that "surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka". The Russian government dismissed the initial UN report after it was released, calling it "one-sided" and "distorted".[73]
2018: After the start of the renewed
USA, France, UK
The governments of the United States,
Gallery
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White Helmets looking for survivors in Arbin
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Aerial bombardments of East Ghouta in February 2018
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Ruins in Arbin on 27 February 2018
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A family in Ghouta on 28 February 2018
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Streets of Arbin in 2018
References
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- Syria: Left to Die Under Siege Amnesty International report in 2015