Hell on earth: The destruction of Eastern Ghouta

Hell on earth: The destruction of Eastern Ghouta
Special coverage: A selection of the latest news, analysis and exclusive feature pieces from one of the bloodiest episodes in Syria's seven-year war.
1 min read
28 February, 2018
Syria's regime and Russia have unleashed daily airstrikes on the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus since February 18 in a bid to wipe out rebel groups from one of their last strongholds.

In the first ten days of the escalation in violence, more than 600 civilians, almost a quarter of them children, have been killed, making it one of the bloodiest episodes of the country's seven-year conflict.

Eastern Ghouta, the last rebel bastion near the capital, has been under a devastating regime siege since 2013, leading to chronic food and medicine shortages which have brought its 400,000 residents to the brink of starvation.

Despite UN calls for a ceasefire and a brief "humanitarian pause", the regime's deadly airstrikes have continued unabated.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described life for civilians in Eastern Ghouta, bombed, starved and trapped, as "hell on earth".

Click 'special contents' to unlock The New Arab's latest coverage on the unfolding crisis.



Join the conversation by tweeting to us: @the_newarab