Syrian regime forces kill 19 civilians in Damascus

At least 19 civilians were killed on Saturday in shelling by forces allied to the Syrian regime against the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta. Syrian activists and a first responder group say shelling and rocket fire targeted the suburb a day after medical evacuations were completed to save the lives of 29 others.

The victims were six children and 13 adults said the Syrian Civil Defense, volunteer rescuers also known as the White Helmets. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group and the local, activist-run Ghouta Media Center reported the same.

On Friday, the Red Cross and Red Crescent completed the evacuation of 29 patients from the besieged suburbs to receive urgent medical care in government hospitals in Damascus. More than 400 patients on a UN list waiting for evacuations were left behind however.

It took the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent three days to evacuate the patients and their family members from eastern Ghouta suburbs to hospitals just minutes away, underscoring the degree to which authorities have obstructed basic relief work in the war-torn country.

The UN submitted a list of names to the regime six months ago of patients requiring evacuation from the siege because they were suffering from war wounds, kidney failure, and malnutrition. 

The UN says around 400,000 people are trapped under the regime’s siege of eastern Ghouta. In November, UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said the list had reached 494 names, and 12 patients had died waiting for care. The UN's children's agency said more than 100 children require evacuation.

The regime, which has besieged the eastern Ghouta suburbs with varying degrees of severity since 2013 in response to a revolt against Bashar Assad's regime, refused to allow any evacuations until this week. 

Food stores and medical supplies have dried up under the blockade.UN officials have blasted the use of sieges against civilians in Syria as "medieval" and "barbaric." Amnesty International called the tactic a crime against humanity.

In Idlib province, 10 citizens including a child girl were killed due to shelling by the warplanes on areas in the towns of Kafrsajna and Maarat Hermeh and Halbeh village in the southern countryside of Idlib.

8 citizens were killed they are: 4 citizens were killed due to bombardment by warplanes on Harasta and Arbin, and 4 citizens were killed in artillery shelling on Kafr Batna and Douma in Rif Dimashq.

12 citizens of one family including 5 children and citizen women at least were killed by bombardment by warplanes believed to be of the International Coalition on areas in Sousa town east of the Euphrates River.

While it has increased to 24 at least, the number of killed members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them since the attack started on the 29th of December 2017, while it rose to 29, the number of fighters of the factions including fighter of Gulf nationality who blew himself up in a booby trapped vehicle, also tens of both parties were injured with varying severity including officers of the regime forces.