Surge in pro-govern­ment air strike­s has killed more than 210 people, includ­ing 54 childr­en, in Damasc­usBEIRUT: Syria’s Eastern Ghouta has become a “death sentence” for children as heavy bombing is killing scores of young people trapped in the besieged enclave, aid agencies said on Tuesday. “The longer the siege and bombing goes on, it is effectively a death sentence for many children,” Alun McDonald, a spokesperson for charity Save the Children, said by phone. Wesam, a doctor in Eastern Ghouta who declined to give her full name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone that children were living in intense fear. “The situation in Eastern Ghouta is tragic … if it is this bad psychologically for adults – it is worse for children,” she said. Neither the Syrian military nor Russia commented on the renewed bombardment in eastern Ghouta, but they have often said they do not target civilians.

Source: The Express Tribune February 21, 2018 06:33 UTC