Syria war: Thousands flee twin offensives in Afrin and Ghouta - BBC News

16/3/2018
Syria war: Thousands flee twin offensives in Afrin and Ghouta

Seven-year-old Rouaa has lived most of her life in a refugee camp
As many as 50,000 people have fled separate offensives against rebel forces in northern and southern Syria in recent days, activists say.

Russian air strikes reportedly killed 31 people in the Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus on Friday, after 20,000 people left the region.

Turkish shelling killed 18 people on Friday in the northern town of Afrin, where 30,000 people have fled.

Seven years of war have driven nearly 12 million Syrians from their homes.

At least 6.1 million are internally displaced while another 5.6 million have fled abroad.

More than 400,000 are believed to have been killed or are missing, presumed dead, since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran - three countries closely involved in the conflict - have met in the Kazakh capital Astana to prepare for a summit on Syria in Istanbul next month.

Why is there a war in Syria?
How serious is the situation near Damascus?
Friday's deaths in the Eastern Ghouta were reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group.

They came as humanitarian corridors controlled by the Syrian government were meant to allow more civilians to leave the region.

The Russian defence ministry has been streaming what it says is live video of the checkpoints.

According to the Observatory, nearly 20,000 civilians fled rebel-held areas in the region on Thursday.

Civilians used a government-controlled corridor to leave the Eastern Ghouta
Pro-government forces are believed to have recaptured 70% of the region after three weeks of intense fighting against rebels there.

At the same time, 25 lorries carrying food aid entered the Ghouta town of Douma but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the aid was just a fraction of what was needed.

ICRC president Peter Maurer said after visiting the region that people there were exhausted by the fighting and the lack of food and medicine.

"I'll probably remember the boy who approached me near the streets of Eastern Ghouta asking whether I had a small bottle of water which illustrates how dire the situation is," he said.

The crushing of the rebel enclave outside Damascus would be a major victory for President Assad.

Eastern Ghouta devastation seen from space
Falling hair and eating inedible plants to survive
What is happening on the Turkish border?
Afrin, a town populated mainly by ethnic Kurds near the frontier, has been under bombardment from the air and the ground by Turkish forces and their local Syrian allies.

Civilians took to the hilly roads around Afrin on Thursday
Some 30,000 people have fled the city and nearby villages, according to the Observatory. They headed towards villages held by Syrian government forces.

Turkey is targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed militia that it regards as an extension of the Kurdish rebels on its own territory.

Afrin: What is going on in Syria's other battle?
Hundreds more families left overnight as shelling continued, the Observatory says. Five children were among those killed on Friday, it reports.

Brusk Hasakeh, a YPG spokesman, told Reuters news agency that Turkish forces and their Syrian militia allies were trying to storm Afrin from the north but the YPG and its women's affiliate, the YPJ, were fighting back.

Smoke could be seen near Afrin on Thursday
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering in Ankara that his country would not stop until its mission to capture Afrin had been completed.

"The European Parliament is apparently going to ask for the Afrin operation to be stopped," he said.

"There is a lady [EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini] there who is responsible for [EU] enlargement. She is said to make such a request. Don't get your hopes up, we will not leave there until the job is done. You should know this."

What are the latest diplomatic efforts?
While Turkey is opposed to President Assad, Russia and Iran are the Syrian leader's closest allies.

From left: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Astana
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought to portray the talks in Kazakhstan as an opportunity to bring lasting peace to Syria, saying "millions of Syrians are looking in the direction of Astana".

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the bombing of civilians was unacceptable.

"There has been a significant progress on minimising violence in the field but breaches of ceasefire today are concerning," he said. "Particularly, the situation in the Eastern Ghouta is at a level of disaster."