Assad regime intensifies attacks on Eastern Ghouta

At least 15 civilians were killed by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria’s eastern Ghouta on Saturday, according to a source from the White Helmets group.

White Helmets is also known as the Syrian Civil Defense.

The source said Assad forces began intensified artillery and air attacks early Saturday in an area that is part of the de-escalation zone.

Three people died in Otaya village, while nine others were killed in Haresta; three civilians also killed in Kafar Batna, Misraba and Nash Shabia areas, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

A total of 53 air attacks were carried out in Haresta in the morning, the White Helmets said. 

Regime forces targeted Hammuriye, Cisrin, Arbin, Kafar Batna, Misraba and Beyt Seva regions with heavy artillery while airstrikes were carried out in Marj, Arbin and Medyere neighborhoods, it added.

The wounded were taken to hospitals by Civil Defense teams. 

Assad forces have been bombing Eastern Ghouta since Nov. 14

The area, which has been under the siege of regime forces since Dec. 2012, falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- set up in Syria by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are forbidden.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.