Eastern Ghouta: Muslim Terrorists Dig in for SAA Assault, Hide Behind Human Shields and Hostages
Our special correspondent Anton Stepanenko reports from Eastern Ghouta. He has the latest updates from the frontline in his exclusive report.
So far, only military pilots have seen the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta like this. Over 100 sq. km. of fertile lands east of Damascus. The towns of Douma, Jobar, and Harasta have been occupied by the militants for 6 years. Almost 2 million people used to live here before the war, now nobody knows for sure. It's approximately 200,000-300,000 now. And, at least 10,000 militants.
Near Douma, vehicles try to pass the last part of the road that leads to the front faster. The sight of kids playing in the streets is deceptive. They live here and are used to taking fire from the militants. The latter have become more active in the past days. Their mortars fire at residential blocks of Douma and residential blocks of the town of Vafidin.
"Yesterday, the militants dropped 35 shells and 20 more this morning. They keep firing at this location".
This location is unique, there's no other like it in all of Eastern Ghouta. The humanitarian passage to Vafidin is the only location that connects Damascus with Eastern Ghouta. This is a checkpoint. It's open from this side and from the side of the Syrian troops. But militants don't let civilians out on the other side. Militants deliberately work this checkpoint. All of Eastern Ghouta is a war zone. The shells land right at the checkpoint, so people try to move from one door or opening to another. This makes it possible to hide in case of fire.
"This is the passage itself, with the entrance to Eastern Ghouta 50 meters away".
Neutral land is seen through the firing port in the wall. A battle took place here in the morning. The casings are still on the ground, they lie where they fell.
Samir: "You can see the remains of concrete blocks by the checkpoint. They used to cover a part of the road and the checkpoint. In the morning, militants tried to shell the fortifications. Our guys opened fire and didn't let them do it".
He keeps calling the same phone number. The connection here is either poor or nonexistent. Samir has lived at the frontline for a week. He has a family of 25 in Ghouta. He keeps watch here, so he can see them when they come.
Samir: "There are no issues on this side, our families can visit us here. Militants keep promising to let them go in an hour or two, but they don't. They don't let our women and children go".
Abu Kerim spent 2 years in a militants' prison in Ghouta. The Jaysh Al-Islam group alone has 20 of them. Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra have their own prisons. Abu Kerim didn't break the law in any way, he didn't steal or kill anyone. He was simply suspected of connections to the government.
Abu Kerim: “They used to lock people up for the desire to run. For the militants, all civilians act as human shields. The prisons are shields, too, as they were in Aleppo and Raqqa. Prisoners are held in the basement, with headquarters and other structures on top.”
Like other hostages, this man spent 2 years digging fortifications for the militants. Our drone travels 500 meters in, deep into the extremists' territory. It takes off at the checkpoint as it flies over the road. The militants' forward positions are visible 50 meters away. The entire front end is dug up with trenches, dirt ridges, and tunnels leading from one fortification to another. Officially, this is de-escalation zone #3, where civilians are held as hostages. This is where they fire mortars and missiles at Damascus from.
Anton Stepanenko, Artyom Grigoryan, Aleksandr Pushin. Vesti News of the Week, Ghouta Front, Syria.