Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visits frontline area in Eastern Ghouta

He met soldiers and civilians in the area.

Appreciating the role played by the soldiers in the war-hit area, Assad was quoted as saying by SANA news agency: "Every soldier, combatant or pilot who was carrying out the mission to whom he was charged, he changed the political map and the world balances with each village or city he has contributed to its liberation."

During his visit, the President also met several civilians who have got out of regions where terrorists are still seizing.

Assad said it was the responsibility of the country to protect families in Ghouta and liberate them from the hands of the terrorists.

“The state is responsible for protecting Ghouta families and liberate them from the terrorists’ grip and restoring security and stability to them and to the region,” the President said.

The Syrian army is slowly advancing against the rebels in Eastern Ghouta area.

Meanwhile, dozens of children have been killed since fighting began in the north-western Syrian town of Afrin, where people are under bombardment, hospitals have been shut down and water supplies cut off, the United Nations has reported.

Along with Eastern Ghouta, the Kurdish-held town is now among the worsening flashpoints, as the conflict in Syria enters its eighth year.

“We have been receiving deeply alarming reports from Afrin in Syria about civilian deaths and injuries due to airstrikes and ground-based strikes,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

She said that the humanitarian situation is reportedly worsening, with Afrin Hospital, the only medical facility equipped for major operations, being inundated by the influx of injured people.

She also said that reports indicate that only those civilians who have contacts within the Kurdish authority or the Kurdish armed forces have been able to leave the town.“There is also a severe water shortage due to the reported destruction of a pumping station as well as the control of other water resources by Turkish-led forces,” Shamdasani said.

Civilians are at risk of being killed, injured, besieged, used as human shields or displaced as a result of the fighting, she warned, reminding all parties to the conflict that they must permit civilians wishing to leave combat areas to do so in safety, and to ensure the protection of those who remain.

Image: Wikimedia Commons