30 Syrian Civilians Reported Killed East of Damascus

Conflicting Reports on If Airstrikes Were Syrian or Russian

by | Jan 4, 2018

The rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, just east of the Syrian capital city of Damascus, continues to be a very dangerous place for civilians, with a flurry of airstrikes against the area killing at least 30 civilians early Thursday morning.

Four bombs hit two buildings in a residential area, and the civilians were within. The Syrian state media reported an operation in Eastern Ghouta was ongoing intended to break the siege of a military site nearby, though it’s not clear if the airstrikes were related.

It’s also not clear whose airstrikes they were, as while initial reports said the warplanes belonged to the Syrian military, later reports quoted monitors as saying the planes belonged to the Russian military.

Either way, such strikes are alarmingly common in Eastern Ghouta, even as deals have been reached to evacuate substantial parts of the enclave, rebels remain dug in in parts of it, and civilians remain trapped on the front lines for the foreseeable future.

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.

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