A Russia-ordered “humanitarian pause” has gone into effect to allow civilians to leave a rebel-held enclave near Damascus, giving a brief respite to the residents of the besieged area that has been under intense attack by the Syrian government for weeks.
Syria’s state-run al-Ikhbariya TV broadcast footage from a crossing point manned by the Syrian military between eastern Ghouta and Damascus, saying preparations were under way to allow civilians to leave, including medical cars.
The Wafideen crossing point is near Douma, one of the largest towns in eastern Ghouta, only a few kilometers from Damascus. The station showed small buses waiting at a parking area, but there were no signs of anyone coming out of the enclave.
Photo: AFP
Al-Ikhbariya’s journalist on the ground said mortar shells had targeted the crossing, preventing civilians from leaving.
The five-hour humanitarian pause ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin comes as a UN ceasefire failed to take hold in eastern Ghouta, and residents and aid groups said such unilateral pauses are not internationally monitored.
The enclave’s residents fear they could face harassment and possibly arrest if they go into government areas, after years of living in the rebel-held enclave.
International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said humanitarian corridors need to be well planned and must be implemented with the consent of parties on all sides.
“This is essential so that people can leave safely, if they chose to do so,” she said. “And for those who decide to leave, all measure should be taken to provide assistance, protection and shelter to them, and those who remain must be protected from any attacks.”
A weekend resolution unanimously approved by the UN Security Council for a 30-day ceasefire across Syria failed to stop the carnage in eastern Ghouta, where more than 500 people have been killed since last week.
Rami Aburrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violence has dramatically declined in eastern Ghouta overnight, but reported a number of shells yesterday morning. It was not immediately clear where they landed or who fired them, Abdurrahman said.
Douma activist Firas Abdullah said a bomb landed in the town after the pause began, as well as three ground missiles.
Civilians caught in the violence have mocked Putin’s order, saying it gives only a couple of hours of calm before violence resumes.
The Army of Islam, the largest insurgent group in Ghouta, said the pauses circumvent the UN resolution.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
RSS