The United Nations children's agency has issued a statement of protest against the reported killing of dozens of people, including several children, in the Syrian government's bombardment of rebel-held suburbs of Damascus. The violence in eastern Ghouta is part of a wider escalation in fighting on several fronts in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad pushes to end the seven-year rebellion against him. Mortars fired by rebels in eastern Ghouta landed in Damascus on Tuesday, causing two deaths and several injuries, Syrian state media reported. This man was wounded during airstrikes on the Syrian village of Mesraba in the besieged eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday. France said on Tuesday that the bombing of eastern Ghouta by pro-government forces amounted to a serious violation of international humanitarian law and called for a humanitarian truce.

Source: CBC News February 20, 2018 12:58 UTC