Thousands Flee Eastern Ghouta in Largest Exodus Since 2013

Tens of thousands of civilians evacuated the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on Thursday in one of the largest single-day exoduses of civilians since the start of the Syrian war, the Associated Press reported.

The United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimates that 20,000 people left the besieged opposition holdout on Thursday, in the first mass exodus of civilians from the area since government forces launched a fierce offensive on rebels there one month ago.

The SOHR called Thursday’s exodus the largest since government forces first besieged Eastern Ghouta in 2013.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that more than 12,000 people fled the besieged suburbs the previous day, according to Reuters. The reason for the discrepancy in the figures was not immediately clear.

More civilians were reported to have left Eastern Ghouta on Friday. The Russian defense ministry said that around 2,000 people had fled the rebel-held suburbs by early Friday morning, according to the AP.

Speaking from Kazakhstan, Lavrov said on Friday that a cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta would be extended “until all [civilians] leave” the opposition holdout.

The exodus of civilians from Eastern Ghouta has brought the Syrian government and its allies closer to recapturing the last opposition enclave near the Syrian capital.

Citing the SOHR, Agence France-Presse said government forces now control 70 percent of Eastern Ghouta, after carving up the enclave into three encircled patches in recent days.

Syrian troops and allied forces are fighting to capture the district of Hammuriyeh which has come under heavy attack this week.

Thousands Flee Turkish Attacks on Afrin

Thousands of civilians have fled the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in recent days to escape stepped-up Turkish attacks on the region. More than 10,000 civilians were reported to have left the area between Wednesday and Thursday, Reuters reported, citing a spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Hundreds more were reported to have left the area overnight on Thursday, Reuters said. The SOHR put the number of civilians who left Afrin overnight at 2,500. They were heading toward Nubl and al-Zahra, two Shiite Muslim villages north of Aleppo city that are loyal to the Syrian government, Reuters said, citing the SOHR.

Meanwhile, Turkish shelling continued to pound the region, killing more than 12 people and injuring 60 others over a period of 24 hours, the SOHR said on Thursday. Another 18 civilians were reportedly killed overnight, according to the Independent.

Turkish troops and allied rebels have besieged the town of Afrin and are attempting to storm the area from the north. The Kurdish enclave has been the main battleground between Turkey-backed forces and the Kurdish YPG militia since Ankara launched “Operation Olive Branch” in January.

Turkey’s presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said on Thursday that Ankara will not hand over Afrin to government forces after it has been cleared of Kurdish militias, Al Jazeera reported.

“We have no intention or thought of giving it to the [Syrian] regime,” he was quoted as saying.

Airstrikes Pound Daraa in Violation of De-Escalation Zone Agreement

Airstrikes targeted the southern province of Daraa on Thursday despite the area being protected by a United States-backed de-escalation zone agreement, the Syrian Obervatory for Human Rights reported.

Syrian warplanes started bombing parts of Daraa on Monday for the first time since Moscow and Washington designated parts of southern Syria a de-escalation zone last July, Reuters said.

This week’s attacks have undermined the relative calm that has prevailed in the region since the deal was reached and has led to growing concern among Western powers that Daraa may serve as the next battleground between the government and the opposition after operations in Eastern Ghouta are scaled down.

On Monday the U.S. State Department expressed concern over reports of government attacks. “If true, this would be a clear violation of the [southwest] cease-fire by the Syrian regime that broadens the conflict,” an unidentified department official said.

The State Department also called for an “urgent meeting” in Jordan to ensure compliance with the de-escalation zone agreement in southern Syria.

Recommended Reads

• The Associated Press: 7 Years On, Syrians Despair Over a Country in Pieces
• Reuters: The Lives of Three Men Show Why Syria’s Rebels Are Losing
• NPR: Syrian War Enters 8th Year, Trailing Smoke and Suffering in Its Wake
• The Guardian: Civilians Without Hope, a Leader Without a Country: Call This a Victory?
• Amnesty International: Syria: Seven Years of Catastrophic Failure by the International Community