The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

About 375 civilian casualties including 150 children and women and about 1900 wounded during 50 days of the hysterical attack by the regime forces and their allies on the Eastern Ghouta

Rif Dimashq Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the bombardment is continuing within the ongoing escalation of the bombardment by warplanes and the ground shelling, on areas in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out raids on areas in Aftries town and other areas in Douma city, which resulted in the death of 4 citizens in Aftries as well as the injury of more than 20 others, while they targeted areas in Kafr Batna town which resulted in the injury of 10 citizens, the warplanes also targeted areas in Madyara town, in conjunction with shelling by more than 120 missiles on areas in Otaya town and Ashari area, and renewed aerial bombardment on Douma city, which resulted in the injury of about 69 citizens, while it has increased to 15 at least including 3 children and 3 citizen women, the number of casualties who have been killed today in Douma city due to the bombardment by warplanes, while 26 dead bodies were extracted from the rubble of the destruction in Saqba city and Kafr Batna town, while a man died affected by the injury he had in shelling on areas in Jisrayn town, thus, it has increased to 373 including 90 children and 56 women, the number of martyrs killed by the aerial and ground shelling since Sunday evening the 18th of February 2018, and the casualties are: 24 casualties at least including 3 children and 3 citizen women who were killed in bombardment by warplanes on areas in Aftries town and Douma city, 77 citizens including 19 children and 11 women, were killed on Wednesday in bombardment by helicopters by explosive barrels on Kafr Batna town and airstrikes on Jesrin town and raids on Saqba, 128 citizens including 29 children and 16 women were killed on Tuesday, in the shelling on the areas of Nashabiyah, Otaya, Arbin, Zamalka Mesraba, Hamuriya, and Ash’ari, 127 citizens including 34 children and 23 women were killed on Monday, in the aerial and ground bombardment on Hamuriya, Beit Sawa and Saqba, Douma , Mesraba, Otaya, Nashabiyah, Zamalka, Aftries, KafrBatna, Al-Shifonyyah and Jesrin, 17 citizens including 5 children and 3 citizen women were killed on the evening of Sunday, in aerial, missile and artillery bombardments on Saqba, Mesraba, Otaya and Ashari area.

Also the renewed bombardment resulted in increasing the number of wounded to more than 1870 civilians, while there are tens of missing people under the rubbles caused by the rocket, artillery and aerial shelling on the cities and town in the Eastern Ghouta, which may increase the death toll, in addition to the presence of a large number of injuries, some of them have seriously wounded, amid inability of the medical staff to relieve all medical cases, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the bombardment of the warplanes and helicopters as well as the intensive shelling on the Eastern Ghouta, resulted in getting 10 hospitals and medical points out of service as a result of their targeting in Saqba, Douma, Beit Sawa, Jisrayn, Arbin and other areas in the Eastern Ghouta, to decrease the ability of medical capacity even more, and crowd the places with the wounded who flock as a result of intensive and continuous shelling by the regime forces,  led by the Brigadier Suhail Al-Hassan, which paves the way for a wide military operation in the Eastern Ghouta, through which the regime forces aim to regain the control of it.

This tragic medical reality comes with the absence of full sections in the Eastern Ghouta as a result of the lack of the specialists, where there is only one doctor for each of the specialties of vascular surgery and neurosurgery, while there are no doctors specialized in internal and heart diseases, while there is one doctor at least for gynecological diseases, who came from the east of the capital Damascus after the regime forces took the control of the neighborhoods of the east of Damascus, and after the only doctor specialized in gynecological diseases was killed during the fighting between Al-Rahman Corps and Jaysh Al-Islam in April 2016, and this tragic reality comes with the shortage of many medicines including antibiotics, antipyretics, and other medicines needed for emergency aid, also there is no place for resentment against the insanity and hysteria of the murderers of people of the besieged Ghouta, as there is no time today for its towns and cities except for death, where those who did not die by shelling would die by another way, and they are many, from a sniper bullet to shelling by mortar, artillery, tanks shells, rocket launchers, missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, to the airstrikes, a new killer, the death by explosive barrels, is added, thus, this new killer gave the chance unleashed the deadly trio in the Eastern Ghouta, to overdo in killing its people, increasing the suffering of the Eastern Ghouta and increasing its tragedy, and the cries of the residents reached the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights complaining the horror of the shelling, where one of them told the Syrian Observatory saying “those who were not killed by the regime’s missiles, the shells and raids by its warplanes as well as the Russian strikes…will be killed by hunger”, and the local and medic sources described the situation as catastrophic, where the shops were closed, and the shelling did not leave a save place for the citizens even in their homes, thus, hunger started to infiltrate to children, and the lack of food increased and doubled the suffering of the patients, after the successive destruction of medical points and hospitals in the eastern Ghouta, while the killing in Ghouta came after a long hunger and a prevention to enter food and medicine to this area, which has been besieged for years and which includes hundreds of thousands of citizens, thus, the siege, hunger, and disease were a deadly trio which is the alternative killer in the case of the absence of the shelling, increasing the tragedy of the citizens even more, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored today, Wednesday the 21st of February 2018, the closure of shops and the lack of food, in the crowd on this intensive shelling on the besieged Ghouta, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored during the past few weeks, a list of the prices of the main supplies needed at easy home, in which the price of a package of bread reaches about SP 1900 ( $ 5 ) the price of sugar is SP 2400 ( $ 6 ), the price of rice is SP 2600, the price of Bulgur is SP 2400, the price of wheat SP 1600, the price of a kilogram of flour reaches SP 3000, the price of salt reaches the same price of the flour, the price of the vegetable oil reaches SP 3500, the olive oil reaches double of the price of the vegetable oil, all of this came with the absence of the nature gas, while the other fuels of petrol and diesel fuel are presented at high prices, in which the price of a liter of petrol reaches SP 8000 which equals $ 21, while the price of the diesel fuel is SP 5000, and as a result of the lack of heating substances, the sale of firewood for heating appeared, in which the price of a kilogram of the firewood is SP 400, and the sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that some traders are able to bring foodstuffs, from time to time, through the checkpoints of the regime, but at first they have to pay taxes and bribes to the checkpoint, rated by SP 3000 for each kilogram, while the financial and alimentary conditions of some citizens dropped greatly, which led them to sell their land to people who are outside the Eastern Ghouta in return for sending them money for their living, while others sell their homes, and others head to the kitchens of the factions operating in the Eastern Ghouta, to get meals, while the rest depend on the aid of the relief organizations operating in the Eastern Ghouta.