#SaveGhouta: World reacts in anger as regime hammers Syria's Eastern Ghouta

#SaveGhouta: World reacts in anger as regime hammers Syria's Eastern Ghouta
More than 270 have been killed since Sunday.
2 min read
21 Feb, 2018
Hundreds of ordinary people have been killed in just a few days [Getty]
As the bombardment of Eastern Ghouta by Syrian regime aircraft and its Russian allies continues in the Damascus countryside, humanitarian aid groups and the world at large have reacted in horror to what may be new levels of brutality, even for this war.  

Since the escalation of the brutal offensive on Sunday, more than 274 people have been killed, including at least 67 children. Six hospitals were bombed in the past three days - in the province designated last year as a "de-escalation" zone.

Photoblog: Pictures of extermination in Eastern Ghouta [Warning: Graphic content] 

Save the Children described the extent of the campaign's destruction as surpassing even the Aleppo crisis in 2016.

People have taken to social media platforms to slam the horrific bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, calling on international powers and world leaders to step in. NGOs are calling on the UN Security Council to impose an immediate ceasefire and hold perpetrators of these atrocities to account.

Under the hashtag, #SaveGhouta, horrific images have appeared, showing piles of dead bodies in hospitals, and corpses of children retrieved from the rubble.  



Children trapped in the carnage have heartbreakingly described the situation as like "the end of the world".

A video posted to Twitter by a Syrian child, Noor, from Eastern Ghouta, has been viewed nearly 100,000 times as she calls on "everyone who can hear me - we are in danger, please help us before it's too late".

Protests have also been organised around the world in a show of humanitarian solidarity, calling for international accountability for the war crimes being committed in Syria, and for the breaking of UN resolutions by the regime.  

There are fears that the escalating bombing campaign suggests the regime is paving way for a ground assault soon in one of the country's last rebel-held enclaves.

Eastern Ghouta is home to more than 400,000 people living under crippling regime siege, with little access to food or medical resources. 


The recent bloodshed, possibly exceeding even Assad's previous brutality, prompted the UN children's agency UNICEF to issue a largely blank statement on Tuesday saying, "we no longer have the words to describe children's suffering".

What is happening now in Eastern Ghouta in particular, and Syria in general, is ethnic cleansing. 

A 'Save Ghouta' protest will be held in London tomorrow, Thursday 22 February at Piccadilly Circus at 6pm.