The region of Eastern Ghouta is home to an estimated 400,000 people living under government siege and facing escalating bombardment in recent weeks. Air strikes killed 23 people in Syria’s rebel-held eastern Ghouta district, just outside Damascus, a war monitor reported, and a woman was killed by shelling inside the government-held capital on Monday, state media said. In a statement, Paulo Pinheiro, head of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said an ongoing Syrian government siege of Eastern Ghouta "involve(s) the international crimes of indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate starvation of the civilian population". “Dozens of airstrikes hit several areas in Eastern Ghouta, killing 23 civilians including four children,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. The Observatory says 16 people were killed while the activist-run Ghouta Media Center put the toll at 17 dead. It was the second attack in a week on Turkish soldiers trying to establish the position near the front line between rebels and pro-Syrian government forces.
Syrian government airstrikes pound rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave near the capital Damascus, killing at least 23 civilians including four children.