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Executive Summary for March 12th

We review the key developments in Syria, including government forces cutting off two major towns in Eastern Ghouta from the rest of the enclave, Turkish troops approaching the center of Afrin and the U.S. warning Damascus against using poison gas as a weapon in Syria.

Published on March 12, 2018 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

Government Cuts off Major Rebel Towns in Eastern Ghouta

Syrian troops cut off the major Eastern Ghouta towns of Douma and Harasta from the rest of the opposition enclave on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Citing pro-government media, the AP said that the Syrian army and allied forces established a corridor that cuts through the opposition holdout after capturing the town of Mudeira on Sunday.

Pro-government forces had also captured the town of Misraba one day earlier.

Sunday’s advance split the Eastern Ghouta suburbs in two, with one side measuring 8 square miles (22 square kilometers) and the other 10 square miles (27 square kilometers), the AP said.

The push dealt a major blow to the region’s embattled rebel groups, who have been battered by airstrikes and artillery attacks since Damascus stepped up attacks on the rebel stronghold last month.

The three-week-long campaign has killed more than 1,000 people since it started, including at least 23 civilians who died in government attacks on Eastern Ghouta on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Russia said on Saturday that it was negotiating with rebels to let them leave Eastern Ghouta safely if they surrendered the enclave to government forces. But Faylaq al-Rahman, one of the two main rebel groups in the region, issued a statement rejecting the prospect of an exit, the AP said.

Meanwhile, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that government forces had evacuated “dozens of civilians” from Misraba to shelters in government-held areas, according to AFP.

The Russian military said late on Sunday that 52 civilians, including 26 children, had been evacuated from the town of Misraba, according to Reuters.

This is one of the first recorded civilian evacuations from Eastern Ghouta since Russia and Damascus opened a humanitarian corridor more than a week ago.

 Turkey Closes in on Afrin

Turkish troops and allied rebels are closing in on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria after weeks of battling the Kurdish YPG militia on the edges of the district, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Citing the United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Reuters said that Turkey-backed forces have reached the outskirts of the town of Afrin, and are poised to enter the town’s center after advancing from the east under heavy shelling and gunfire.

Sunday’s push came one day after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish troops and allied rebels had besieged the area.

“Now the center of Afrin is surrounded and our entry is imminent,” Erdogan said in a televised speech on Friday, according to Reuters. “We are removing the last remaining obstacles standing before our besieging of Afrin city center.”

According to Al Jazeera, some people are planning to erect a human shield to protect the center of Afrin from a Turkish onslaught.

Turkey has been battling the YPG in Afrin since January 20. According to Syrian state media, Turkish troops control five out of the seven settlements in Afrin region, Reuters said.

U.S. Warns Damascus Against Using Poison Gas in Syria

U.S. defense secretary Jim Mattis warned Damascus on Sunday against the use of poison gas as a weapon against civilians in Syria, Agence France-Presse reported.

His comments come amid numerous reports that government forces have targeted the besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus with chlorine gas on several occasions since the start of an offensive on the region three weeks ago.

“We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians on any battlefield,” Mattis told reporters during his trip to Oman.

“I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponised gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration.”

Trump struck Syrian government forces in Syria last April after a suspected gas attack targeted the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Mattis said that he was aware of reports of chlorine attacks on Eastern Ghouta but said that he did not have conclusive evidence that gas had been used.

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