A fledgling “humanitarian pause” announced by Russia in Syria’s rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta was rattled Tuesday by fresh air strikes and rocket fire, several sources said.
“Fighting continues this morning. That is what our reports from Eastern Ghouta tell us,” a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office, Jens Laerke, told reporters in Geneva, adding that it was premature to discuss any relief operations for desperate civilians given the persisting clashes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported air raids, including the dropping of two barrel bombs, as well as rocket fire, while state media accused rebel forces of shelling humanitarian corridors to keep civilians hostage.
The Britain-based Observatory said two barrel bombs — crude, improvised munitions that cause indiscriminate damage — on the Shaifuniyah area of Eastern Ghouta.
