DOUMA • Fresh regime strikes killed 23 civilians yesterday in a rebel-held enclave near Damascus, where overwhelmed medics were still treating the survivors of the Syrian conflict's bloodiest day in months.
The district of Eastern Ghouta, controlled by militant and Islamist rebel factions, suffered some of its worst bloodshed in years on Tuesday, and the toll continued to mount overnight.
"The civilian toll is now 80. Two wounded people died after midnight," said Mr Rami Abdel Rahmanof the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"This was the highest civilian toll in Syria in nearly nine months, and one of the bloodiest days for Eastern Ghouta in several years," said the head of the Britain-based monitoring group.
Nineteen children and 20 women are among the dead, and around 200 were wounded.
There was no respite for Ghouta residents as regime warplanes returned yesterday morning and carried out strikes that killed nearly two dozen civilians across several towns.
Ten were killed in Beit Sawa, among them four children. Another eight died in Hammuriyeh and five in Douma, the Observatory said.
In Hammuriyeh, a young man stared at the bodies of five children, including his younger brother, killed in a recent air strike. "I saw them filling up water, and a few minutes later, the airplane hit. I came back and found all five dead," he said.
Civilians had been bracing themselves for more raids as the regime appeared intent on ratcheting up the pressure on Eastern Ghouta, a rebel pocket on the capital's doorstep.
"Please break up all gatherings and clear the streets," blared an announcement from mosque minarets in Douma.
Surrounding areas and villages had been heavily battered by raids on Tuesday, flooding Douma's hospitals with wounded children.
Home to an estimated 400,000 people, the Eastern Ghouta region has been included in a de-escalation deal that was meant to bring calm. But bombardment there has increased in recent days, including with suspected chlorine-filled munitions.
Yesterday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that "all indications" pointed to the Syrian government's use of chlorine weapons in Syria.
"All indications... tell us today that chlorine is being used by the regime at present in Syria," he told BFM television.
Syria has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.
Yesterday, the Syrian army intercepted an Israeli attack on a military position in Jamraya, north-west of Damascus.
Jamraya is home to several military positions and a branch of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre, suspected of playing a leading role in chemical weapons production.
An Israeli air strike hit the facility in May 2013.
More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
