PROBLEM: Syrians Fight For Survival Amid Assad’s Poison Gas Warfare

In Syria's Ghouta region, attacks continue even
after a United Nations ceasefire.

Syrian director Humam Husari, right, and cameraman
Sami al-Shami, center, film a scene in the rebel-held
besieged town of Zamalka, Syria, on Sept. 19, 2016.
It’s exactly 3:00 p.m. in eastern Ghouta when Humam
Husari calls. “I’m in the basement,” says the 31-year-
The connection is poor, but it doesn’t break up. There is still
internet in the rebel enclave near Damascus, which has
been under siege by the Syrian regime for five years.
WhatsApp is the only link to the outside.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army is trying to bleed
out the area, where about 400,000 people are said to be
trapped. Despite a United Nations resolution on Saturday
calling for a 30-day ceasefire , Ghouta’s government
continued to bombard the region on Sunday and Monday.
“It’s the eighth day in a row that the bombs have been
falling,”. The filmmaker, who has
been based in Ghouta for five years, pauses for a
moment as if to make sure that the air raid is over. “The bombing just got too intense,” he says.
In desperation, the people of Ghouta have sought refuge in their basements. But since reports of renewed chlorine gas attacks have started making the rounds, even the basements don’t feel safe anymore.

Smoke rises from besieged eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, on Feb. 27, 2018.

Drones Over The City It’s Sunday evening, less than 24 hours after the
international community agreed to a ceasefire. Even
Russia, Assad’s closest ally in the fight against the
rebels, voted in favor.
Airplanes, helicopters, and even drones take to the skies,
Husari says. They register every movement that someone
makes on the street. “Then artillery fire starts
immediately,” he explains.
According to a few shaky mobile phone videos and photos
that spread on Twitter on Monday, the attackers used
chlorine gas. Even at a low concentration, the gas can be
corrosive, damaging the skin and the respiratory tract.
According to the pro-opposition Observatory for Human Rights, one child died, a woman is in critical condition, and at least 13 others are injured.

A boy is treated at a medical center in Saqba, Syria, on Aug. 21, 2013, after government forces fired rockets that released deadly fumes over the rebel-held Damascus suburbs.

The Darkest Day Of The War
People in Ghouta have been victims of toxic gas attacks
before. The chemical attack on Aug. 21, 2013 not only
ended the lives of more than 1,000 people in southwest
Syria, it also became the turning point in the war.
U.S. intelligence quickly pinned the operation on Assad,
and U.S. President Barack Obama announced the
beginning of a military intervention. The Kremlin
increasingly started to take the side of its Middle Eastern
ally, turning the Syrian conflict into a playground for
international hostilities.
For the people of Ghouta, Aug. 21 is probably the darkest
day of this war. “I’ve seen 1,500 people die of the toxic
gas sarin,” says Husari, who made a short movie about
the survivors of the attack.
He knows that the Syrian regime denies carrying out the
attack. So does Russia. On Monday, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to “nonsense stories from
East Ghouta, which cite an anonymous source claiming
that chlorine gas was used.”
But Husari does not remain anonymous. He knows what’s
happening in his region, and how absurd the regime’s
accusations are that the rebels are using the banned
weapons themselves.
“It makes no sense. Why would the opposition target their
own people?” he said.

A child is treated in the besieged city of Douma, Syria, on Feb. 25, 2018.

Heavy Artillery And No Way Out
While families persevered in the basements of the
settlements, several battles occured on the streets on
Monday between different rebel groups that are involved
in armed resistance against Assad in Ghouta. In this part
of the country, they are almost the last to stand in the
way of the Damascus-Moscow-Tehran axis.
Also among the rebels are Salafists, jihadis and former al
Qaeda cadres. In the city of Douma, the jihadi militia
Jaysh al-Islam is in charge, and in the western part of
the region, it’s the Failaq al-Rahman group, belonging to
the Free Syrian Army. New videos allegedly show fighters
from the Salafist group Ahrar al-Sham firing on Assad
forces in the region with heavy anti-tank missiles.
Any attempt to break through the government’s blockade
on humanitarian access seems futile, just as the
government’s repeated promises of an evacuation seem
improbable. “That is not an option. It just won’t happen,”
Husari tells HuffPost.
Then there is a bang in the background. Briefly, things are quiet. “Artillery,” Husari says, before swiftly
continuing to speak, almost as if nothing had happened. If people can’t even leave their basements, how could an evacuation be possible?

NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
A man sifts through trash in Douma, Syria, on Aug. 8,
2015, amid the Assad regime's blockade on food and
medicine in eastern Ghouta.
Running Out Of Food And Diapers
Staying in basements, shelters, and hiding places is all
about persisting, especially for children and their mothers.
“There are 10 to 20 births in Ghouta every day,” Husari
says. “In terrible conditions — in the basements.”
There are no more diapers, and food is scarce. “People
are trying hard to find some more grain or flour to bake
bread down here,” he explains.
People are very hungry, which is becoming increasingly
life-threatening, especially for the youngest children. Most
mothers no longer have milk for their babies and don’t
know how to keep them alive.
Doctors, surgeons and medical assistants have also fled
underground. Since the beginning of the bombing, the
Assad regime has been targeting hospitals ― a
treacherous strategy that Damascus and Moscow
deployed during the siege of Aleppo . Thirteen hospitals
have been severely damaged in recent days, according to
Doctors Without Borders .
“Those still working have been set up underground. But
care is very poor,” Husari says.
‘The Last Thing People Here Think
About’
Husari seems calm. Only his frequent sighing reveals how
worried he is. He knows the war is far from over. That
there will be more attacks ― possibly with poison gas.
He reports that people are preparing and collecting water,
vinegar and towels to be able to protect their mouths and
noses in an emergency. But these resources are also
becoming scarce.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has not yet
been able to initiate the delivery of relief supplies for the
civilian population because of the ongoing lack of security
guarantees, a spokeswoman for the German Press
Agency said.
Most urgently needed are medical products, but also food.
The U.N. ceasefire is supposed to create a window of
opportunity for aid deliveries. But the people of Ghouta
have long since stopped believing in such promises.
Nevertheless, Husari does not want to talk about politics.
“That’s the last thing people here think about. For the world, it’s all politics; for us, it’s the struggle for survival,” he says.