Syrian claims capture of 10pc of East Ghouta enclave

The Syrian government army and pro-Iranian Shiite militias are reported by Western military sources to have captured about one-tenth of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus. As fighting intensified Saturday, the rebels shelled Damascus. Nearly 400,000 civilians are trapped there and since Feb. 18 more than 640 have been killed, 150 of them children. Although food and medical supplies have dropped dangerously, not a single refugee from the beleaguered enclave has taken advantage of the corridor of escape opened up by Russia’s declaration of a daily five-hour pause in the fighting. DEBKAfile reports that the exit corridor leads south to the Jabal Druze area near the Jordanian border, where there are no facilities to support a refugee population, leaving them the only option of heading further west for Quneitra opposite Israel’s Golan border.