By Adham Kako
EASTERN GHOUTA/ANKARA
At least 51 civilians have been killed by regime attacks in opposition-held parts of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district since mid-November, according to Syrian civil-defense sources.
The White Helmets, a Syrian civil-defense organization, reported Tuesday that 38 civilians -- including several women and children -- had been killed by regime attacks in the district within the last four days alone.
Another seven civilians were killed on Tuesday by regime attacks in the town of Khan Assubul in Syria’s Idlib province, according to the same organization.
Home to some 400,000 inhabitants, Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, has remained under a crippling siege by the Assad regime since late 2012.
Notably, Eastern Ghouta falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- endorsed by Turkey, Russian, and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
