Syria Q&A: Conflicts in eastern Ghouta and Afrin explained

[TomSea]

Syria Q&A: Conflicts in eastern Ghouta and Afrin explained
Why Syria's government is bombing east of Damascus, and Turkey's role in the north
Michael Jansen

A Syrian man holds a wounded child at a makeshift hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma, following air strikes by regime forces on the besieged eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus. Photograph: Hamza Al-Ajweh/Getty Images   
 
Why has the Syrian government launched an offensive in eastern Ghouta?

Since most of the suburbs of Damascus have been returned to government control, the Syrian regime is no longer prepared to accept the presence of armed jihadis based in the countryside abutting the capital. Although eastern Ghouta was declared a “de-confliction” or ceasefire zone last May, it has become a battleground because the status quo is untenable.

Jihadi fighters have attacked Syrian army sites while jihadi gunners, including women, have regularly lobbed mortars into the Old City on the front line and the city centre, prompting artillery strikes and bombing runs by government and allied forces.

Read more at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/syria-q-a-conflicts-in-eastern-ghouta-and-afrin-explained-1.3400765