Russia: Militants impose curfew in Eastern Ghouta

The Russian military says militants based in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta have imposed a curfew during humanitarian pauses to prevent civilians from leaving the enclave.

The militants have also banned mass gatherings of civilians, Interfax quoted Russian Major-General Vladimir Zolotukhin as saying on Sunday. 

Russia has designated four safe passage routes in Eastern Ghouta after a ceasefire was declared across Syria by the United Nations Security Council.

On Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syria’s Ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad discussed the ceasefire and its violation by the militants and their shelling of Damascus. 

The Syrian government and Russia said terrorists fired 65 mortar shells at the capital and its surroundings in the day.

The state news agency SANA said the projectiles hit the al-Bairouni Hospital’s vicinity, the al-Assad neighborhood, and the al-Qemariya neighborhood in the capital’s Old City. According to the report, 49 of the shells were fired at residential structures. 

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the report, saying terrorists also opened sniper fire at the safe corridor, marked out by Moscow in Eastern Ghouta for evacuation of civilians.

Terrorists are using Eastern Ghouta as a launchpad for near-daily attacks on the capital. The Syrian army is currently in the midst of an operation to drive them out of the enclave, but it is facing a hostile West which is threatening airstrikes to stop the push. 

EA