The Syrian War: The lives of hundreds of civilians on the outskirts of Damascus are 'threatened' every day..

The situation in the Syrian rebel-held region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus is reported to have deteriorated due to heavy bombardment by Syrian government forces.

In an interview with the BBC, a doctor in East Ghouta said every day hundreds of civilians dying and the hospital where they work should be evacuated several times a day.

Schools, mosques, and shops there, he argues, are deliberately targeted in bomb attacks.
The doctor explained many residents who feel neglected or left to die by his own friends.

The coordinator of the UN's humanitarian operation in the region, Panos Moumtzis, said at least 250 people had been killed in the bombing for the past three days.

An East Ghouta, Bilal Abu Salah, whose wife was five months pregnant, said, "We are waiting for our turn to die, that's all I can say."

The 22-year-old father is concerned that fears of terror and continuous bombing could make his wife give birth earlier.

"Almost everyone now lives in shelters, there are five to six families in one house, no food, no market," he told Reuters news agency.

Government troops-backed by Russia-stepped up attacks to seize the rebel-held territory since Sunday night (18/02).

The Syrian military says it is trying to free the region from terrorists.

What happened in eastern Ghouta?
Firas Abdullah - a reporter from the opposition media group Ghouta Media Center - told the BBC there was no place to hide in East Ghouta.

"We can hear the cry and cry from women and children through their windows."

"And missiles and mortars are falling into us like rain, there is no place to shelter and this nightmare is not over yet," he added.

More than 50 children including those killed from about 250 people, according to local activists, while about 1,200 people were injured.

The UN has called for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to be channeled and injured victims could be evacuated from the battlefield.

The East Ghouta region is controlled by the Jaysh al-Islam group but Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of jihadists led by former jihad who had been in contact with al-Qaida, was also there.

How bad is the situation in the region?
Violence in the eastern Ghouta region, defined as a 'de-escalation zone' by Syria's main allies -Russian as well as Iran- as well as Turkey, was the worst since the chemical offensive in 2013 in Aleppo that killed hundreds of people, according to activists.

"People have no place to hide, they are trying to survive but the famine due to the siege makes them weak," said a doctor to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organization, which provides health care assistance in East Ghouta.

While Panos Moumtzis said at least six hospitals were attacked on Monday and Tuesday, which he said could be classified as war crimes.

The Syrian government has only allowed the entry of a humanitarian aid convoy to East Ghouta since late November resulting in severe food shortages.

A piece of bread is now worth 22 times more than the average bread price in Syria and about 12% of children under five are reported to be suffering from acute malnutrition.

What happens in other Syrian territories?
On Tuesday (20/02), troops backing the Syrian government had entered Afrin, a pocket adorned by Kurdish rebels near the southern border of Turkey.

Turkey wants to drive out the Kurdish militia, the YPG - which controls the region - which calls for Syrian military aid to deal with attacks from Turkey.

The Damascus government denounced the Turkish operation as a 'striking attack' on its national sovereignty but Ankara insists it will not back down.

The Syrian military also launched an offensive against a region still under the control of rebels in Idlib Province to the northwest. The UN says about 30,000 people have been displaced in the province since the war last December.

Pope Francis called for an end to Syrian war

Open the fasting of Syrians in the midst of war ruins
The Russian Foreign Ministry claims dozens of its citizens as well as residents of the former Soviet Union were killed or wounded in the war in Syria lately.

No details were given but Moscow is believed to refer to a war in Deir al-Zour province on February 7, when the US military says it has killed about 100 Syrian government fighters.

The US offensive was carried out in response to attacks on its Kurdish-led militant allies, who are battling militants calling themselves Islamic States or ISIS.