More deaths in Syria bombing campaign near Damascus
BEIRUT — Syrian government warplanes supported by Russia continued their relentless bombardment of the rebel-controlled eastern suburbs of Damascus for a sixth day Friday, killing five people, opposition activists and a war monitor reported. The death toll from the past week climbed to more than 400.
The number of casualties has overwhelmed rescuers and doctors at hospitals, many of which have also been bombed. World leaders a day earlier called for an urgent cease-fire in Syria to allow relief agencies to deliver aid and evacuate the critically sick and wounded from besieged areas to receive medical care.
But Russia’s U.N. ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who called Thursday’s meeting, put forward last-minute amendments, saying the proposed resolution was “simply unrealistic.” A new vote was likely Friday.
The United States accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of planning “to bomb or starve” opponents in besieged eastern Ghouta into submission — just as it did in Aleppo.