The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

The Eastern Ghouta’s agreement meets the fate of its predecessors…and Ahrar Al-Sham and Tahrir Al-Sham start a violent attack on the Vehicle Department by detonating a booby trapped vehicle and the area witnesses intensive raids and shelling

The Eastern Ghouta of Damascus is witnessing violent explosions accompanied by violent fighting and intensive shelling and airstrikes, which completely invalidated the ceasefire agreement, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out intensive raids targeting areas in the outskirts of Harasta city and the vicinity of the Vehicle Department, in which this bombardment came after an attack by Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham on the Vehicle Department from the side of Harasta, started with blowing a Syrian fighters himself up by a booby trapped vehicle which targeted the Vehicle Department controlled by the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, followed by violent clashes between the fighters of Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar Al-Sham against the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, in areas in the vicinity of the Vehicle Department and inside it, as the factions are seeking through this attack to impose their control over the area and cause the largest possible number of casualties in the ranks of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out 11 raids at least targeting the vicinity of the Vehicle Department and areas in Harasta city and its outskirts, preceded by artillery shelling by 5 shells targeted areas in Mesraba town which injured 3 persons, while the regime forces shelled areas in Arbin city and its outskirts by 6 missiles at least believed to be ground-to-ground, and the regime forces targeted Harasta city and its outskirts by about 15 missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, and the regime forces also shelled areas in the outskirts of Jisrayn town.

These clashes come about a month after the first combined violent attack by Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham, which was carried out in the same technique, on the 29th of December 2017, in which a Saudi fighter blew himself up by a booby trapped vehicle, followed by a violent attack enables the factions to advance in the area and impose a full siege on the Vehicle Department, then the regime forces carried out violent shelling by artillery, tanks and mortar shells and missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, and by the warplanes on the cities and the towns of the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, raising to 234 citizens including 58 children and 42 citizen women, since the 29th of December 2017 as a result of targeting the Eastern Ghouta by hundreds of raids and hundreds of artillery and rocket strikes, and the casualties are 131 citizens including 41 children, 31 citizen women and a male nurse, they were killed in raids by the warplanes on areas in Harasta city controlled by the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham and raids on Madyara town as well as the cities of Saqba, Hamuriya, Douma and Arbin, and 103 citizens including 17 children and 11 citizen women and 2 male nurses were killed by artillery and rocket shelling targeted areas in Beit Sawa town, the cities of Harasta, Hamuriya, Douma and Arbin as well as the towns of Kafr Batna, Mesraba, Al-Nashabiyah, Otaya and Mesraba.

And this attack comes to completely invalidate the ceasefire agreement in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, after it witnessed successive violations by tens of missiles and shells along the past 36 hours, by the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, which killed 8 citizens including 2 children and 2 citizen women, the number of casualties who were killed in the first two days of the ceasefire agreement in the eastern Ghouta, in addition to the injury of 16 citizens, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on Friday, that an agreement had been reached between Rahman Corps and Jaysh al-Islam as the first party; and the Russians as the second party, to carry out a ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta between the factions operating in the Ghouta and the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, the sources told the Observatory that the Corps set a condition that Russia shall introduce humanitarian aid within 24 hours of carrying out the agreement, which is planned to start at midnight on Friday-Saturday, also Rahman Corps warned the Russians about not carrying out their promises, and that after a maximum of 48 hours of the start of the agreement; if the aid was not entered, then, the Corps will not be bound by this agreement, also the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights was informed by reliable sources that Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham is included within this agreement in an undisclosed manner, and this agreement comes 29 days after a violent attack launched by the Islamic factions operating in the Eastern Ghouta -including Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham- on the Vehicles Department and then besieging it and its buildings near Harasta city, after attempts and endeavors before it to get Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham out of the Eastern Ghouta and move it to Idlib province.