If confirmed, it would make Monday one of the deadliest days for the district since it came under siege in 2013.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least 100 civilians, including 20 children, were killed by rockets and air strikes.

Syrian forces stepped up an offensive to retake the area earlier this month.

The SOHR said 470 people had been injured, some critically.

Urging a halt to the bombardment, a UN official said the situation was spiralling out of control.

The Eastern Ghouta is the last remaining opposition-held enclave near the capital and is completely surrounded by areas under government control.

Last week the Eastern Ghouta, home to almost 400,000 people, received its first aid delivery in almost three months.

Meanwhile, Turkey warned the Syrian government not to help Kurds fighting against Turkish forces in northern Syria.

The attacks on the Eastern Ghouta area since Sunday have hit not only civilians but also their means of survival, targeting bakeries, warehouses and anything else that may hold food supplies.

It is the worst single day of the bombing that people there have seen in years. People are fearful of it becoming another Aleppo scenario.

Aid workers say the attacks targeted major roads in the area, which will block any aid or rescue operation and hinder the movement of ambulances.

The death toll is rising because medical facilities were also hit. Four makeshift hospitals, including a maternity facility, were struck on Monday. The rebels have been responding with mortar attacks on Damascus but the government’s military might is far stronger.

Monday’s reported death toll has not been independently verified.

Videos from Hamouria, a town in the enclave where at least 20 people were reportedly killed in air strikes on Monday, showed people fleeing heavily damaged buildings covered in dust and debris.

In December international aid organisations warned conditions in the rebel-held area had reached a “critical point” for civilians because of shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

UN regional humanitarian coordinator Panos Moumtzis said it was “imperative” to end the “senseless human suffering” in the Eastern Ghouta.

“Many residents have little choice but to take shelter in basements and underground bunkers with their children,” he noted.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said conditions in the enclave were being exaggerated by international actors.

“In the UN, the topic of humanitarian problems in the Eastern Ghouta and Idlib is being actively hyped up,” he said, according to Russian media reports.

Media captionFather describes a ‘miserable day for Eastern Ghouta’

Next month marks seven years of civil conflict in Syria.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and an estimated five million have fled the country.

Eastern Ghouta is an agricultural belt, about 15km (nine miles) east of the city centre.

The area is made up of 22 communities.

It has been designated a “de-escalation zone” by Russia and Iran, the Syrian government’s main allies, along with Turkey, which backs the opposition.

The main rebel groups are the Salafist Jaish al-Islam (formerly known as Liwa al-Islam), al-Rahman Corps, an affiliate of the Free Syrian Army, and also Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is made of several smaller groups including former members of Jabhat al-Nusra, which has its roots in al-Qaeda.

Source: BBC

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The President said the outstanding arrears follow their migration onto the single spine salary structure.

Addressing members of the Ghana Armed Forces at Burma Camp on Friday, President Akufo Addo said government is working on reviewing the salaries of personnel.

“The briefs I have received indicate that not enough attention is paid to the concerns and plights of our civilians’ brothers and sisters, our families and our veterans. It is to them accordingly that I make these remarks. I understand that the fair wages and salaries commission recommended payment of three days’ work, representing 11.1% as additional allowance to the civilian employees as far back as 2011. The recommendation is yet to be processed by the Ministry of Finance.”

“The General headquarters subsequently sent a reminder to the Ministry of Defense, which has in turn on 22 May 2017 also requested the Ministry of Finance, to effect the recommendations of the fair wages and salaries commission on the payment of the 11% as additional allowance. The Ministry of Finance is processing that for execution,” the president added.

The President also said he has been informed that civilian employees within the Armed Forces are compelled to wear the prescribed uniform to work every day lamenting although government is supposed to provide them with the uniforms, the employees do it themselves.

Uniform allowances to be paid by August

He added that government is aware that it had defaulted in making such allowances available to the civilian employees for two months and will thus honour its obligation by August.

“I’m informed that, the civilian employees of the armed forces, unlike their counterparts in the public service are compelled to wear the prescribe uniform to work every day. The uniforms are purchased and maintained by the civilians themselves and the country receives GHc40 across board as uniform allowance. We understand that government is in arrears of two months which will be rectified in your August salaries,” he added.

Civilian employees important

President Akufo-Addo also told the members of the Armed Forces that their government is working on providing them with adequate accommodation facilities.

“There is also the question of accommodation and the expectations of civilian employees. These are all legitimate concerns of the civilians and they deserve to be treated with the same urgency as the concerns of their uniform colleagues. The contributions of the civilian employees are important to the success of the military establishment and these outstanding matters will be addressed expeditiously so that the enhancement of the morale of all segments of the armed forces can be achieved for the greater cohesion of the armed forces. We have to pay due attention to the concerns and plights of our civilian brothers and sisters, our families and our veterans,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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