More airstrikes hit Ghouta inflicting heavy loss of civilian life

Video. More airstrikes hit Ghouta inflicting heavy loss of civilian life

Air strikes hit eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, (March 13), killing and injuring 45 citizens according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

Air strikes hit eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, (March 13), killing and injuring 45 citizens according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

The air strikes come as sick and injured civilians left the rebel enclave on Tuesday in the first medical evacuation since one of the deadliest assaults of the seven-year war began nearly a month ago.

A video uploaded to a social media website purported to show air strikes hitting a built-up area in eastern Ghouta and smoke rising from targets.

International attention has been focused in recent weeks mainly on the plight of civilians in eastern Ghouta, where the United Nations believes 400,000 people have been trapped under punishing bombardment, deprived of food and medicine.

During the army's offensive, which began on February 18th,  more than 1,100 civilians have died, the U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs says. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have recaptured most towns and cities in Syria's heavily populated west, has vowed to reassert his control over every inch of the country.

On Wednesday the Civil Defence search-and-rescue group in Syria, also known as the White Helmets,  released video showing mass destruction in Eastern Ghouta caused by Syrian army shelling.

The video shows debris, bodies on the ground, and people panicking as they moved through the destruction after their neighbourhood was bombed.

Some 400,000 people are believed to be living there, trapped under a relentless air and ground bombardment and a crippling years-long siege.

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