New regime air strikes and heavy clashes shook Syria’s rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday despite a UN demand for a ceasefire to end one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria’s civil war.
After days of diplomatic wrangling, the Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria “without delay”, to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
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In a phone call on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence. They called on Russia “to exercise maximum pressure on the Syrian regime to achieve an immediate suspension of air raids and fighting”, Ms. Merkel’s office said in a statement.
In Douma, the main town in Eastern Ghouta, fresh air raids and artillery strikes could be heard on Sunday.
At least seven civilians were killed in strikes on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, bringing the total number of dead in the week to 527, including 129 children.
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Iran’s Army Chief of Staff said on Sunday that the Syrian military would continue to target “terrorist groups” in the region.