counter attack in Hamouriyah after the displacement of 20 thousand civilians toward the regime-held areas and the aerial shelling is renewed following the death of more than 1260 civilians since the beginning of escalations

Rif Dimashq province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:: the SOHR monitored that the exit of civilians from the pocket controlled by Al-Rahman Corps in the southwestern part of the factions-held area in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, following the mass displacement that took place today the 15th of March 2018, which is the largest since the regime forces besieged the Ghouta in 2013. About 20 thousand civilians got out from the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, including thousands of children and women citizens, through the crossing linking between the city of Hamuriyah and the areas controlled by the regime forces in the Eastern Ghouta, and tens of families went out using their cars, vehicles and small buses. Also a new group of medical cases got out from Douma city through Al-Wafdeen Camp to the regime-held areas where they will be transferred to refugee camps in Rif Dimashq.

Reliable sources stressed the SOHR that the exit of citizens has stopped, while the violent clashes took place between Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham on one hand, and the regime forces and their allied militiamen on the other, following attack by Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham on the city, which has been controlled by the regime forces, in an attempt to advance in it and rebel the advancement of the regime forces. The clashes are accompanied by artillery shelling and heavy rocket shelling by the regime forces and aerial shelling on the clash area, while other areas in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus were shelled again, where the warplanes and helicopters shelled areas in the cities of Saqba and Harasta, in conjunction with rocket shelling on areas in Jisreen, Kafrbatna, Zamlka, Saqba, and no information about human losses so far.

And reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the members of Al-Rahman Corps withdrew from the area of the passage and retreated into Hamouriyah city, while other sources told the Syrian Observatory that Russia and the regime forces meant to choose this time, the 15th of March 2018, in the 7th anniversary of the Syrian revolution, to direct a massage that means “in the anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the Syrians returned in the arms of the homeland”

It has also increased to 1262, the number of the Syrian civilians whose death was documented by the Syrian Observatory in the Eastern Ghouta, including 252 children and 171 women, who have been killed since the 18th of February 2018, by the aerial, rocket and artillery shelling on the cities and towns of Douma, Harasta, Arbin, Zamalka, Hamouriyah, Jesrin, Kafr Batna, Hazza, Ash’ari, Nashabiyah, Aftries, Otaya, Al-Shifonyyah, Al-Marj area, Mesraba, Madyara, Beit Sawa, and other areas in the besieged Ghouta of Damascus, resulted in the injury of more than 4911 citizens including hundreds of children and citizen women with varying severity, some of them have permanent disabilities, while the bodies of tens of citizens are still under the rubble of destruction caused by the aerial, rocket and artillery shelling by the regime forces on the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, and the total death toll documented by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, includes 730 casualties including 111 children and 88 women who were killed and documented by the SOHR after the resolution of the UNSC, which failed again to stop the killing of the people of the Eastern Ghouta, and the shelling resulted in the fall of hundreds of wounded, where the number of casualties may increase because of the presence of serious injuries, amid the tragic humanitarian situation of the people of Ghouta, who intersected sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that they do not leave the shelters for fear of the intensive shelling, amid inability of the medical staff to relieve all medical cases.