The ongoing ground shelling on the Eastern Ghouta in the first day of the ceasefire agreement leaves 15 casualties and wounded and raises to 228 the number of persons who have been killed since the start of the escalation in late December 2017

Rif Dimashq Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the violent shelling which targeted Harasta, resulted in the destruction of a building in Harasta city, which left casualties, where the Syrian Observatory documented the death of a man and a child, as well as the injury of more than 12 others with varying severity, as a resالغوطةult of shelling by the regime forces by 10 missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, hit areas in Harasta city, while the number of casualties may increase because of the presence of serious injuries, and the regime forces fired two shells on areas in the middle of Douma city, which caused material damage, without information about casualties, thus, the death toll has increased to 228 citizens including 57 children and 40 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 97 citizens including 16 children and 9 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 the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the regime forces continued their shelling on the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, targeting it by more shells and missiles, declaring the end of the truce on their part, as the regime forces targeted areas in Harasta city by 10 missiles at least believed to be ground-to-ground, which injured 13 persons at least including children and citizen women, and the regime forces also shelled areas in the farms between Douma and Harasta by 3 shells accompanied by targeting to the outskirts of Jisrayn town by a shell, preceded by shelling targeted the Eastern Ghouta by 5 rounds of shelling, 3 of them were in the first hour of applying the truce, in which the outskirts of Arbin city were shelled by 2 missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, one of them was fired at 12:10, and the other was fired at 12:25, while Harasta was targeted by a missile which fell on its outskirts at the close of the first hour of applying the truce, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored this morning that the regime forces targeted Al-Nashabiyah and Hazrma towns by 2 artillery shells, while the outskirts of Arbin city were targeted by 6 missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, which caused material damage, without information about casualties.