Violence Rages Unabated in Ghouta as Syria Defies U.N. Cease-fire Resolution
Violence Rages Unabated in Ghouta as Syria Defies U.N. Cease-fire Resolution by Liz Sly – Washington Post
Syrian government forces defied a new U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire on Sunday by launching a ground offensive, sustaining their airstrikes and allegedly dropping at least one bomb laden with chlorine against a rebel-held enclave outside Damascus.
Residents of the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus spent a seventh consecutive day huddled in shelters as warplanes and artillery pounded the area, killing at least 22 and dashing hopes that this latest in a long string of failed efforts to tamp down the relentless bloodshed in Syria would work.
Among the dead was a child who suffocated when a chlorine bomb was dropped on a neighborhood in the suburb, the first chemical attack since the negotiations for a cease-fire began this month, according to doctors in the area.
“It was one more terrible day in Syria,” said Panos Moumtzis, the United Nations’ regional coordinator for Syria, who initiated the cease-fire call three weeks ago. He said he was “very, very disappointed” by Sunday’s violence but hoped a way to secure at least a temporary truce could still be found…
