Government Steps Up Attacks on Eastern Ghouta

Warplanes struck an aid warehouse in the besieged suburbs of the capital on Wednesday as the Syrian army and its Russian allies stepped up airstrikes and shelling in the rebel-held enclave, Agence France-Presse reported.

Airstrikes on the town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus damaged a warehouse storing aid that had arrived in the area on Sunday, for the first time in months, the deputy head of Douma’s local council told AFP.

Iyad Abdulaziz said that one-third of the aid supplies, including medicine, food parcels and “nutritional items” were still being stored in the warehouse at the time of the attack. “The guys picked up as much (of the remaining aid) as they could, and we moved it to a different location,” he said, adding that relief workers were still assessing how much of it could be salvaged.

Citing the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), AFP said that at least two people were killed in the airstrikes on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, airstrikes and shelling have hit other parts of Eastern Ghouta since Tuesday, including the areas of Harasta, Irbin, Misraba, Hamouriya and Saqba. Citing the SOHR, Reuters said that at least eight civilians had been killed and some 94 others wounded in the past 20 hours alone.

The heightened attacks come in retaliation for a rebel offensive on an army base in the government-held part of Harasta town on Tuesday, Reuters said.

Rebels tried to storm the Military Vehicles Administration, an army complex used to launch surface-to-surface missiles and rockets at Eastern Ghouta. Citing Syrian state media, Reuters said that the army repelled the attack, killing tens of “terrorists” and destroying their weapons.

SDF Spokesman Defects From U.S.-Backed Force

A senior commander with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defected from the group on Wednesday in the first such departure from the Kurdish-led force’s higher ranks, Reuters reported.

Reuters said that Brigadier General Talal Silo, a Turkman who served as an SDF spokesman, defected to Turkey on Wednesday. He was escorted across the border after handing himself over to the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the city of Jarablus in northern Syria.

“Silo was secretly coordinating with commanders from the FSA and when he entered areas under their control he then crossed into Turkish territory,” Ibrahim al-Idlibi, an FSA spokesman, told Reuters.

The U.S.-led coalition said it was “aware of reports of Talal Silo’s apparent departure from the SDF, but have no further details on his current status at this time.”

The reasons behind Silo’s defection was not immediately clear. Citing a spokesperson for the Turkey-based Syrian Interim Government, Middle East Eye said it was largely due to growing discontent over the marginalization of Arabs and Turkmen within the SDF force.

Russia Dispatches Long-Range Bombers to Syria

Six Russian long-range bombers targeted the so-called Islamic State in areas near the border with Iraq on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Citing a Russian defense ministry statement, Reuters said that six Tu-22M3 bombers struck militant positions outside the ISIS-held town of Boukamal.

The strikes reportedly hit militants, supply depots and armored vehicles, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

The Russian long-range bombers took off from air bases in Russia and flew over Iran and Iraq before carrying out Wednesday’s attack.

Pro-government forces are currently pushing toward the town of Boukamal in an attempt to drive ISIS militants from their last major stronghold in the country.

Recommended Reads:

• Chatham House: Iran Is Building a New Source of Shia Influence Inside Syria
• Doctors Without Borders (MSF): Syria: ‘During the Battle for Raqqa, Nobody Cared About the Civilians’
• Time: Who Will Rebuild Raqqa?
• Al-Monitor: Putin-Trump Statement on Syria Contradicts Erdogan’s Calculations
• The New Arab: If Riyadh Was Serious About Countering Iran, It Should Have Supported the Syrian Revolution