Syria 'massacre' intensifies as UN urges ceasefire vote

The deadly bombardment of eastern Ghouta in Syria is said to have killed at least 46 more civilians on Thursday, ahead of a potential UN vote on a 30-day ceasefire.

"The rocket fire hasn't stopped this morning. Around 200 ground-to-ground rockets struck Douma alone," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group said 46 civilians were killed on Thursday, with up to 403, including 95 children, dying as a result of "concentrated fire" since Sunday night.

The UN said on Wednesday that at least 346 people had been killed and hundreds more wounded since President Assad's forces stepped up their offensive at the start of the month.

At least 92 people died in just one 13-hour period on Monday, the UN added, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling it "hell on Earth" and urging an immediate suspension of "all war activities".

In addition, medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said 13 of the facilities it assists in Eastern Ghouta were damaged or destroyed in three days, leaving remaining staff struggling to do anything to help the hundreds of wounded brought in every day.

On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel added to the international outcry, calling the situation a "massacre".

She said the Syrian regime was "fighting not against terrorists, but against its own people, the killing of children, the destruction of hospitals, all this is a massacre which needs to be condemned".

Around 400,000 people are living under siege in eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus, with shellfire, rockets, airstrikes and barrel bombs pounding the area and crippling food shortages.

:: 10,538 Syrian refugees have relocated to the UK

Terrified residents have been seeking refuge in basements, but many have not been able to escape and footage has shown adults and children pulled out of rubble after attacks.

The Syrian government insists that it is fighting terrorists who are also attacking Damascus - and that it does not intentionally attack civilians.

A UN vote on a 30-day ceasefire in the whole of Syria could take place on Thursday, after Sweden and Kuwait tabled a proposed resolution.

It would allow food, aid and medical evacuations from eastern Ghouta and other areas.

UN Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura said he hoped the resolution would be passed but admitted it was an "uphill" struggle.

However, the resolution would not exempt attacks on extremists from IS, the Nusra Front or al Qaeda - groups the Syrian regime says it is fighting.

Russia - Syria’s key military ally in the civil war - has said it is not directly involved in Ghouta attacks and called the ceasefire proposal unrealistic.

However, opposition activists say Russian warplanes have been taking part in the bombardment.

President Assad met with Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, on Thursday afternoon to discuss coordination between Damascus and Moscow in fighting insurgent groups in Syria.

A photo of the pair's meeting was posted on the Syrian leader's Facebook page, saying they discussed ways to intensify common efforts to "create suitable climates to push the political process forward".

The Russian was quoted as saying the escalation of attacks by insurgents and the support of some "regional and Western" powers "demonstrate the hypocrisy of those states and the falseness of their allegations that they work to end the war in Syria and accomplish a political solution".

Despite this, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin will consider supporting the UN ceasefire resolution if it does not cover fighters from IS and the al Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee.

Moscow could however veto the proposal and the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, instead called for a Security Council meeting.

"That's a long and complex process to achieve. Cessations cannot be established by putting a word in the resolution," said Mr Nebenzya.

At the UN meeting in New York he accused the global media of embarking on a disinformation campaign about the situation in Ghouta, saying it was not reporting the "inconvenient truth" that several thousand fighters are there, including affiliates of the al Qaeda-linked "terrorist" organisation.

During the meeting, Mr Nebenzia asked why Sweden and Kuwait were pushing for a vote on a 30-day ceasefire when they are "fully aware there is no agreement on it".

He added Russia was circulating amendments to the draft resolution.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also said the "terrorists are responsible" for the bloodshed in eastern Ghouta.

The bombardment has drawn parallels with attacks on eastern Aleppo, which claimed thousands of civilian lives as the regime's relentless attacks ground down rebel resistance.

Syria's complex seven-year civil war has claimed more than 340,000 lives, forced millions to flee their homes and left cities in ruins.

Figures show the UK has taken in more than 10,000 Syrian refugees from countries around the conflict zone since 2014.