US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has demanded that the UN Security Council immediately declare a 30-day ceasefire across Eastern Ghouta and the rest of metro Damascus, and is threatening to attack Syria if this doesn’t happen.
Eastern Ghouta is the last rebel-held area around Damascus, but over the past several weeks, the Syrian Army has advanced deep into the region, threatening to recover it from the rebels. Haley says this offensive can’t be allowed to continue and that the US are prepared to act unilaterally.
These threats come amid recent reports that the US is keen to carry out a new major attack against Syria at any rate, hoping to make it somewhat bigger than the strike in last April. The situation in Ghouta may simply be the pretext for this attack.
The extent UN ceasefire in Syria does not apply to all factions in Eastern Ghouta, according to Syrian and Russian officials, because they include banned terrorist groups deliberately not included in the pact. Since Russia is backing the offensive, it is to be expected they’ll block any UN move threatening the offensive.
Source: www.antiwar.com
