Syrian government forces have launched a ground and air offensive in Eastern Ghouta, witnesses said, hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria.
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces began fighting opposition groups from multiple fronts in the rebel-held enclave near Damascus on Sunday morning, while Syrian warplanes continued to shell the besieged area for the eighth consecutive day.
Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, is one of the many opposition groups in control of some areas in the enclave.
The biggest group is Free Syrian Army-linked Jaish al-Islam that says it has captured and killed “a number of soldiers” as they tried to make their way inside the city, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said.
Reporting from Gaziantep in neighbouring Turkey, Bin Javaid confirmed there were multiple attempts by the government to “storm” the area from several sides.
Rebel sources in control of the enclave were resisting the attacks, he reported, saying the fighters struggled to hold their positions on multiple fronts.
Opposition fighters say they will uphold the UN’s ceasefire call, but will respond to any aggression as they reserve the right for self-defence.
The ceasefire’s aim was to evacuate residents of the Damascus suburb, which is under siege, and to allow for the flow of food aid and medicine.
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