Thousands of people fled the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Thursday in what appeared to be a mass exodus of civilians out of the besieged area and into Damascus, according to Syrian state TV and monitoring groups,
Over 12,500 people have fled the area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, according to UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian news agency SANA said “thousands” had escaped to government-controlled Damascus through the enclave’s Hamoriya corridor.
Images on state TV showed hundreds of people leaving the enclave on foot and in the back of pickup trucks.
The UN children’s agency said it was assisting families and children at three shelters in suburban Damascus and at reception points outside the enclave. The civilian exodus comes hours after reports of intensified overnight airstrikes in Eastern Ghouta.
Eastern Ghouta has been the target of a renewed government assault that has left more than 1,000 civilians dead since it began last month, according to multiple sources, including Doctors Without Borders.
The Damascus suburb has been under siege since 2012. Last week, Syrian ground troops swept through the enclave, recapturing a majority of it and splitting rebel-held territories into three parts.