(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian rebels killed 15 troops on Wednesday and wounded 20 more as regime forces launched a ground assault on the edge of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, seeking to gain territory despite a Russian plan for five-hour daily ceasefires, a war monitor and sources on both sides said.
Wednesday's ground assault targeted the Hawsh al-Dawahra area at the eastern edge of the rebel-held area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, reported advances by the regime forces in the area, describing it as the resumption of an assault that first began on Feb. 25. It said rebels had inflicted heavy losses on government forces.
An official with one of the rebel groups in eastern Ghouta said fighters were battling to repel an attempted incursion, and characterized the battle as "back and forth".
A commander in the military alliance that backs Assad said an elite unit of the Syrian army, the Tiger Force, was taking part in the assault, but the advances so far were small.
An army officer told journalists insurgents had shelled the corridor again on Wednesday to prevent people leaving.
Rebels said at least 140 regime troops killed since Syria and its ally Russia intensified their bombardment of the rebel enclave on February 18, where the regime forces seized only 1 km2.
Rebels have intensified shelling of nearby regime-held Damascus. A medical official in the capital said on Monday 36 people had been killed in four days. Damascus and Moscow say the campaign in eastern Ghouta is needed to halt such shelling.
The civilian death toll in Eastern Ghouta topped 600 Wednesday, the Observatory said. 147 of the 601 civilians killed were children.
The rise in casualties came in part from the discovery of bodies that had remained trapped in the rubble of destroyed buildings by rescuers who took advantage of a Russian-brokered "humanitarian pause" to search for survivors.
The U.N. Security Council, including Bashar al-Assad's strongest ally Russia, passed a resolution on Saturday calling for a 30-day countrywide ceasefire, but it has not come into effect, with Moscow and Damascus saying they are battling members of banned terrorist groups excluded from the truce. (With Agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
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