A member of the Syrian government walks along a destroyed street in al-Shifoniya as they advance in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area on March 4, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / STRINGER)
France and Britain have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the failure of the 30-day ceasefire to take hold in Syria, diplomats said Tuesday.
The council is expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the airstrikes and clashes in the Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta that have continued despite a ceasefire demanded by the top UN body 10 days ago.
Backed by Russia, the council unanimously adopted on February 24 a resolution demanding the 30-day cessation of hostilities to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid and evacuations of the sick and wounded.
A first aid convoy reached Eastern Ghouta on Monday but the operation was cut short as airstrikes pounded the enclave, killing at least 68 civilians, according to a human rights monitor.
Mohammed a wounded Syrian boy waits to receive treatment at a make-shift hospital in Kafr Batna following reported government bombardments on the rebel-held besieged Eastern Ghouta enclave on March 5, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / Mohammed EYAD)
Airstrikes and artillery and rocket fire on the last major rebel-held enclave near the capital Damascus have killed hundreds and devastated residential areas since they began on February 18.
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The latest toll released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights brings to around 760 the number of civilians killed since the assault began, including at least 170 children.
By early Tuesday, government troops controlled 40 percent of the enclave, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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