Syria's Assad says battles in Eastern Ghouta to continue

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday that the offensive against the rebels in the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta countryside will continue in tandem with allowing civilians to leave toward government-controlled areas in Damascus, as the Syrian army has made significant progress, capturing 36 percent of the areas held by the rebels.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Assad said most of the civilians in Eastern Ghouta want to leave the rebel-held areas toward government areas, noting that there is no contradiction between establishing a ceasefire in that area to allow the civilians to leave and the military operation against the "terrorists."

Assad made the remarks as a Russian-backed partial humanitarian pause has been taking place in Eastern Ghouta to allow the civilians to leave that area since last week, while military operations continue after the end of the daily five-hour-long pause.

No civilians have left and no humanitarian convoys entered that area, with the government accusing the rebels of preventing the civilians from leaving.

In his Sunday comments, Assad said the Russian-proposed humanitarian pause balances giving a space to the humanitarian work and at the same time achieving the goal of striking the "terrorists."

"This is why we must continue in this operation in tandem with giving the civilians the opportunity to leave toward the state areas [government-controlled]," he said.

He hailed the progress made by the Syrian army in that sprawling rebel-held enclave in the eastern countryside of Damascus.

Meanwhile, War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army, said in a statement late on Sunday that the Syrian forces have made important progress in Eastern Ghouta over the past few days, capturing a large amount of the eastern part of Eastern Ghouta, reaching the central sector of that area.

It said the Syrian army forces have captured 38 square km, or 36 percent of Eastern Ghouta, which is estimated at 105 square km.

The Syrian forces that are advancing from the eastern side are only 3 km from the military units in the western part of that rebel-held enclave.

When the two units meet, Eastern Ghouta would be split in half, the statement said.

As Assad has said that the military operations against the rebels in Eastern Ghouta, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the Nusra Front, the humanitarian work, which has been hindered during the past days, is expected to continue as of Monday.

Syria' Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the Syrian government is ready to send aid to Eastern Ghouta, noting that the rebels have targeted the crossing point into Eastern Ghouta.

UN's efforts

The United Nations said in a statement Sunday that it's planning to deliver humanitarian assistance to the rebel-held Douma district in Eastern Ghouta.

In a statement, the UN said the aid convoy will consist of 46 truckloads of health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in need and will be led by Ali Al-Za'tari, the UN resident humanitarian coordinator.

"We hope that the convoy may proceed as planned and will be followed by other convoys. Our teams on the ground are ready to do all that is needed to make this happen," stated al-Za'tari.

Eastern Ghouta has been the major threat to Damascus since the rebels took hold in that area in 2012, with armed militants keeping launching attacks on the capital with mortar shells and in some instances through implementing incursion attempts.

US' response

The United States on Sunday slammed Syria's "brutal" Russian-backed assault on Eastern Ghouta that has reportedly left hundreds of civilians dead.

"The United States condemns the ongoing military offensive that the Assad regime, backed by Russia and Iran, is perpetrating against the people of Eastern Ghouta," the White House said in a statement.

Washington also accused Moscow of ignoring a UN Security Council resolution calling for a 30-day cessation of hostilities, saying Russia has killed "innocent civilians under the false auspices of counterterrorism operations."

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)