Date: Feb 22, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Syria’s Ghouta residents are ‘waiting to die’ Reuters BEIRUT: Residents of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district said Wednesday they were waiting for their “turn to die,” amid one of the most intense bombardments of the war by pro-government forces on the besieged, rebel-held enclave near Damascus. At least 38 people died Wednesday. At least 310 people have been killed since Sunday night and more than 1,550 injured, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A massive escalation in bombardment, including rocket fire, shelling, airstrikes and helicopter-dropped barrel bombs, since Sunday has become one of the deadliest of the Syrian civil war, now entering its eighth year. “We are waiting our turn to die. This is the only thing I can say,” said Bilal Abu Salah, 22, whose wife is five months pregnant with their first child in the biggest Eastern Ghouta town, Douma. They fear the terror of the bombardment will bring her into labor early, he said. “Nearly all people living here live in shelters now. There are five or six families in one home. There is no food, no markets,” he said. Reuters photographs taken in Eastern Ghouta Wednesday showed men searching through the rubble of smashed buildings, carrying blood-smeared people to hospital and cowering in debris-strewn streets. An airstrike warning system run by the Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service in opposition areas, was by Wednesday afternoon sending alerts every few minutes, when planes were spotted taking off from air bases. “The estimated arrival time for the plane to reach the most bombed parts of Eastern Ghouta: ... Harasta: two minutes from now,” a typical alert sent at 4:41 p.m. said. Abdullah Kahala, a construction worker, was having breakfast with his wife and six children when a huge explosion shattered the wall. “I saw Hala and Sara lying in blood with their mother hysterical and our other children shell-shocked on the floor,” he said in a voice message. “Bombs were falling everywhere near our house. We have been spending the last week digging into the rubble of nearby areas with our bare hands,” he added. The United Nations has denounced the bombardment, which has struck hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, saying such attacks could be war crimes. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed Wednesday for an “immediate suspension of all war activities in Eastern Ghouta.” Guterres expressed support for a Swedish and Kuwaiti push for the 15-member council to demand a 30-day cease-fire in Syria. Diplomats said the council could vote on a draft resolution in the coming days. But Assad’s veto-wielding ally Russia has called the proposal “not realistic.” Moscow called for the U.N. Security Council to meet publicly Thursday to discuss the situation in Ghouta. A rebel official said there had been attempts to mediate a ceasefire that would stop the bloodshed.“There are attempts from some international and local sides for a truce process in Eastern Ghouta and they have not succeeded so far,” Mohammad Alloush, the political chief of Jaysh al-Islam – one of the main rebel factions in Eastern Ghouta – told Reuters. Alloush said mediation was taking place between insurgents and Moscow, but did not elaborate. Alloush ruled out the possibility of any deal to evacuate residents of Eastern Ghouta, a type of negotiated withdrawal to insurgent territory in the north that has helped Damascus regain control of cities across western Syria. The Observatory said many of the planes over Ghouta appear to be Russian. Syrians say they can distinguish between Russian and Syrian planes because the Russian aircraft fly higher. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Wednesday described as “groundless” accusations that Russia bears some of the blame. A commander in the coalition fighting on behalf of Assad’s government told Reuters overnight the bombing aims to prevent the rebels from targeting the eastern neighborhoods of Damascus with mortars. It may be followed by a ground campaign. “The offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing,” the commander said.