UN says Syrian and Russian forces have continued to bomb designated safe zones in Eastern Ghouta
- UN says Syrian and Russian forces have continued to bomb designated safe zones in Eastern Ghouta.
- Residents have refused to evacuate the area for fear of being displaced.
- Russia, Iran and Turkey had previously signed a deal where they agreed there can be no fire in the zone.
The United Nations has called on Russia, Iran and Turkey to honour a deal they previously agreed to which stipulated that there would be no military activity around the besieged Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.
The UN however laments that since the deal was agreed on, military escalations have continued to rise rather than reduce.
"This is supposed to be a safe area, but it's not safe. Planes hit all day and all night. Where should we go?" a witness told reporters.
Reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirm that at least 30 people were recently killed in fresh air raids making it the biggest death toll in a single day.
Eastern Ghouta has been besieged by President Bashar al-Assad's troops since 2013 in an attempt to force the rebel enclave into submission.
"The regime didn't respect the de-escalation agreement. The Russians said they would provide guarantees, but they didn't," Mounther Fares, spokesman for the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, said.
The UN says about 400,000 civilians who remain trapped there are facing a "complete catastrophe" because the government has blocked aid deliveries.
With over 500 people in need of immediate access to emergency and aid services, the United Nations confirms that the situation continues to worsen.
"The regime is trying to force the residents of Ghouta to accept being relocated to the north of Syria. But the people here won't accept this, they won't be forcibly displaced," said Hazem Shami, an activist in Eastern Ghouta.
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