Govt seizes ground in Ghouta

BEIRUT/GENEVA: Syrian government forces aim to advance into the eastern Ghouta region one "bite" at a time, a pro-government commander said on Friday, as a war monitor said the army had seized new ground from rebels.

In one of the deadliest offensives of the war, government air strikes and bombardment have killed hundreds of people over 12 days in eastern Ghouta, an area of besieged towns and farms that is the last major rebel-controlled area near the capital.

US President Donald Trump spoke to the leaders of France and Germany about the situation on Friday. France said President Emmanuel Macron and Trump agreed to work together to implement a UN-backed ceasefire that has failed to stop the onslaught, and called on Russia to get Damascus to abide by it.

The Security Council on Saturday called for a 30-day countrywide truce. Russia, which backs the Syrian government in the war, has instead called for daily humanitarian ceasefires from 9 am to 2 pm (0700 GMT to 1200 GMT).

The US State Department on Thursday dismissed Russia´s humanitarian ceasefire plan as "a joke", saying people were afraid to leave the area through a "humanitarian corridor" because of fear of conscription, exile or death.

The war has escalated on several fronts this year, with the collapse of Islamic State giving way to other conflicts between Syrian and international parties, including Turkey which said eight more of its soldiers had been killed fighting Kurdish militias in the Afrin area of northwestern Syria.

Government forces, including the elite Tiger Force, have been attacking rebels in the Maraj area of the Ghouta for several days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday they had captured two villages - Hawsh al-Dawahra and Hawsh Zreika - in addition to hills and farmland.

Rebel sources could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. The spokesman for Jaish al-Islam, one of the main Ghouta rebel groups, said on Thursday government forces had tried to divert their attention by opening a new front in the Hazerma area while also waging battles in nearby Hawsh al-Dawahra.

Rebels had used artillery fire to disable two tanks. The commander in the military alliance that backs Assad said government forces had taken some villages on the Maraj area. Government forces had also made "notable" advances on the western edge of the rebel enclave at Harasta, he said.

The Observatory said government forces had seized a group of buildings in that area. "What is happening at present is biting and taking some villages from the eastern side," the commander told Reuters.

The Observatory says the government bombardment of Ghouta has killed 617 people since Feb 18, while intensified rebel shelling of government-held areas of Damascus has killed 27. Assad has steadily won back territory from rebels with critical military backing from Russia and Iran. With no sign of decisive Western pressure, eastern Ghouta appears on course to eventually fall to government forces too.

Damascus appears to be applying tried and tested military means, combining air strikes and bombardment with ground assaults, as it did to recapture eastern Aleppo from rebels including groups that once received US support.

While Washington has backed away from supporting rebels fighting to topple Assad, Iranian and Russian military aid to the government has remained steadfast: Iran´s supreme leader vowed on Thursday to continue support for Damascus.