A humanitarian "pause" announced by Russia in Syria's deadly bombardment of Eastern Ghouta struggled to take hold Tuesday, with fresh violence erupting and no sign of aid deliveries or residents leaving the besieged enclave. Nine days after Russian-backed regime forces intensified their campaign against the rebel-held enclave, the deal offered some respite to civilians who had ben cowering in their basements.
But the first day of a five-hour daily "pause" that was announced by Russia and kicked off at 9:00 am (0700 GMT) was marred by fresh violence that saw at least six civilians killed. Moscow's plan falls short of a broader 30-day ceasefire which was voted by the United Nations but has yet to take effect, and has inspired little trust from among the besieged enclave's 400,000 residents.
The regime deployed buses at the Al-Wafideen checkpoint to transport residents wanting to use a humanitarian corridor to flee what UN chief Antonio Guterres last called "hell on earth". But no civilians were seen venturing towards the regime forces guarding the checkpoint, where large portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin could be seen side-by-side.
State news agency SANA accused armed groups in Eastern Ghouta of firing several rockets on the path of the corridor. It singled out the former Al-Qaeda affiliate present in some parts of the enclave, accusing it of blocking civilians "to use them as human shields".
Some residents left the basements they had been cowering in for days to check on their property and buy food. But many in the enclave, which lies on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital, appeared distrustful of a "pause" announced by Damascus's main ally.
"This Russian truce is a farce. Russia is killing us and bombing us every day," said Samer al-Buaidhani, a 25-year-old from Douma, Eastern Ghouta's main hub. "I don't believe it's safe for me or my family to leave by this system," he told AFP. International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet told AFP that any evacuation needed deeper coordination.
"Under international humanitarian law, humanitarian corridors are things which need to be well planned and must be implemented with the consent of parties on all sides, not only with one side," she said. More than 550 civilians, almost a quarter of them children, have been killed since February 18 in the Syrian and Russian bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, making it one of the bloodiest episodes of the country's seven-year-old conflict.
Violence levels were significantly lower on Tuesday as the "humanitarian pause" kicked in but six civilians were killed by regime bombardment, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
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