Bombing continues in Ghouta as more victims still under rubble

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Civil Defense rescuing group said Tuesday they had pulled out eight civilians, including seven from the same family, from under the rubble in Zamalka town as aerial bombing stepped up on Eastern Ghouta suburbs.

The Assad regime and key ally Russia have been carrying out a fierce bombing campaign and ground assault against the besieged enclave since February 18, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a countrywide ceasefire.

The ground and aerial bombardment on Tuesday hit thet owns of Irbin and Hammouriyah.

The @Syriacivildefe managed to pull 8 civilians (7 of them from the same family. The parents and their 5 children) from the ruins of their demolished house after the brutal air raids on #Zamalka city in #EasternGhouta during the past few days. #SaveGhouta #Syria pic.twitter.com/QlcbI1Cjho
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 13, 2018

The deaths raised the assault's total toll to 1,160 civilians, including 219 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. More than 4,350 have been wounded.

Eastern Ghouta is the last remaining opposition-controlled zone on the outskirts of the capital, and rebels there have regularly fired rockets onto Damascus.

Casualties among civilians in #Arbin city in #EasternGhouta aftermath 10 airstrikes and more than 15 barrel bombs targeted the town so far. @SyriaCivilDefe search and rescue operations continue. #SaveGhouta #Syria 13 Mar pic.twitter.com/O8Eb7wPvYt
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 13, 2018

Eastern Ghouta is home to around 400,000 people, living under a five-year siege that has made food and medical aid exceedingly rare.

On Monday, France said it's prepared to launch targeted strikes against any site in Syria used to deploy chemical attacks that result in the deaths of civilians, President Emmanuel Macron said.

Shortly before the United Nations was due to discuss Syria, Macron said Moscow had not done enough to permit relief efforts into Eastern Ghouta.

The French leader has made the threat before but has so far made little headway influencing events in Syria.

State television on Sunday broadcast from the eastern Ghouta town of Mudeira, which state television and a war monitor said the army had captured to link up with units on the other side of the enclave.

A military media unit run by the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian government, said the army had also entirely surrounded the town of Douma.

Footage showed several massive plumes of smoke in the distance behind a war-ravaged townscape with big holes in walls and roofs, and yet more smoke wafting across the streets. The sound of blasts could be heard.

The advance on Mudeira, after the capture of the neighboring town of Mesraba on Saturday, has driven a wedge deep inside the insurgent territory, leaving the major towns of Douma and Harasta cut off.

Rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta have vowed they will fight on. A statement issued by Free Syrian Army factions there late on Saturday said they had taken a decision not to accept a surrender and negotiated withdrawal.