Aid convoy 'on its way' to Syria's Eastern Ghouta: Red Cross

A senior United Nations official in Syria, who is accompanying an aid convoy attempting to enter the besieged eastern Ghouta area, told Reuters on Monday he was "not really happy hearing the loud shelling that is around us".

Syrian and allied forces have reportedly retaken half of the territory rebels held in Eastern Ghouta.

Syrian and allied forces have reportedly retaken half of the territory rebels held in Eastern Ghouta. Source: Getty

Speaking at the crossing point into eastern Ghouta, Ali al-Za'tari added that the safety of the staff with the convoy was paramount and "we need to be assured that we will be able to deliver the humanitarian assistance under good conditions".



A 46-truck aid convoy is on the move towards the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta, Pawel Krzysiek, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a tweet on Monday.

On Sunday the United Nations said it was hoping to send the 46 trucks with medicines, food and other supplies for 27,500 of almost 400,000 people trapped in the Damascus suburb by Syrian government forces since 2013.

Syrian forces pushing ahead

Syrian regime and allied forces pushed deeper into Eastern Ghouta on Monday and have now retaken a third of the rebel enclave, a monitor said.

A child injured in a shelling is treated at hospital in Douma, Eastern Ghouta,
A child injured in a shelling is treated at hospital in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Source: AAP


"Regime forces now control 33 percent, or a third, of besieged Eastern Ghouta," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said.

"Regime forces are advancing at a high pace because operations so far are mostly conducted in farmland," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory.

Pro-government forces were two kilometres (1.2 miles) south east of Douma, the main town in Eastern Ghouta, a semi-rural area that lies within mortar range of central Damascus.

The government lost control of Eastern Ghouta in 2012 and has besieged the area, which is now controlled by Islamist and jihadist groups, almost ever since.




Government forces have over the years clawed back nearly two thirds of the territory they lost just east of Damascus in 2012.

President Bashar al-Assad vowed on Sunday his forces would continue the latest campaign until the whole area is retaken.

The regime intensified its air strikes on the enclave last month and on February 18 further ramped up its campaign, with an assault that has left more than 700 civilians dead in two weeks.


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Source: AFP, Reuters, SBS



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