24 February 2018•Update: 25 February 2018
By Esref Musa and Adham Kako
EASTERN GHOUTA/IDLIB, Syria
At least 32 more civilians were killed in the latest regime attacks on Saturday in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency.
The attacks targeted several towns in the suburb, which has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years, bringing it on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Seventeen people were killed in attacks in Duma, two in Kafr Batna, two in Hamouriyah, four in Harasta, two in Saqba, two in Arbin, two in Beit Sawa and one in Aftaris, the agency said.
According to the White Helmets, regime attacks have killed 389 people in Eastern Ghouta in the past six days.
Home to 400,000 residents, Eastern Ghouta falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- endorsed by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
In the past eight months, Assad regime forces have intensified their siege, making it nearly impossible for food or medicine to get into the district, and leaving thousands of patients in need of treatment.
Syria has been locked in a devastating conflict since early 2011 when the regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
According to UN officials, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict to date.
