Syria government forces advance in Ghouta

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Syrian government forces gained more ground in an assault on eastern Ghouta near Damascus on Saturday as they seek to defeat the last major rebel enclave near the capital, a war monitor and a news service run by Lebanon's Hezbollah said.

On another front in the multi-sided war, Turkey said it had captured a Kurdish town in the northwestern Afrin region where it has been fighting the Kurdish YPG militia since January, helped by allied Syrian fighters.

Activists said the Turkish campaign was gathering pace, and Turkish jets hit pro-government forces for the third time in 48 hours in the area, killing 36 of them. The pro-government forces are allied to the YPG.

Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighters carry their wounded colleague in Rajo, Syria, March 3, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The Syrian war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011, has escalated on several fronts this year as the collapse of terrorist group ISIL has given way to other conflicts between Syrian and international parties.

The UN Security Council demanded a 30-day countrywide ceasefire a week ago, but this has failed to take effect.

Damascus, backed by Russia and Iran, has been waging one of the deadliest offensives of the war in eastern Ghouta, killing hundreds of people in a fierce air and artillery bombardment over the last two weeks.

Ground forces including the army's elite Tiger Force have been attacking from the eastern edge of the besieged enclave, where the United Nations says 400,000 people live.

Government forces have reportedly taken almost complete control of the town of al-Shayfouniya on Saturday.

Eastern Ghouta appears on course to eventually fall to the government control.

Smoke rises in Rajo, Syria, March 3, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Russia has called for daily, five-hour "humanitarian" ceasefires in eastern Ghouta, and says rebels have prevented civilians from leaving. Rebels deny this claim.

The US State Department has called the Russian plan a "joke".

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said these events in eastern Ghouta likely included "war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity".

Damascus says it is fighting terrorists who have escalated their shelling of government-held areas of the capital.

Activists said the government bombardment of Ghouta has killed more than 600 people since Feb. 18, while intensified rebel shelling of government-held areas has killed 27.

Afrin assault

Turkey has rejected Western calls for it to suspend the Afrin assault in line with the UN ceasefire, which does not apply to ISIL, al Qaeda and groups associated with it, or other groups deemed terrorists by the UN Security Council.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey and is deemed a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. The YPG has been an important ally for the United States in the fight against ISIL militants.

Smoke is seen rising from the area in Afrin, Syria, March 2, 2018. /Reuters Photo

While the Syrian government has been at odds with the US-allied Kurdish YPG in some parts of Syria, it has chosen to ally with it in the fight with Turkey in Afrin.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a YPG-led militia alliance, said in a statement that Turkish air strikes had targeted positions held by the Syrian army's "popular forces" from 5:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) until 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT).

It did not say where or give a death toll.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country's forces had captured the town of Rajo from militants, while the military said in a statement that the army had taken control of seven settlements including Rajo on Saturday.

Source(s): AFP