Airstrikes and shelling on eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus left at least 22 people dead and dozens wounded Saturday.
After more than 500 people were killed this week in Syria’s nearly seven-year civil war, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution for a 30-day cease-fire “without delay” in the war-torn country on Saturday.
There is no set time for the cease-fire to take effect.
Airstrikes and shelling on eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus left at least 22 people dead and dozens wounded Saturday.
According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the bombings raise the death toll to more than 500 residents, including 190 children and women.
Terrified civilians have been hiding in underground shelters where dozens can fit in tight spaces.
The U. N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria to deliver humanitarian aid to millions and evacuate the critically ill and wounded.
The sponsors, Kuwait and Sweden, amended the resolution late Friday in a last-minute attempt to get Russian support, dropping a mandate that the cease-fire take effect in 72 hours.
Russia’s U. N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had said repeatedly that an immediate cease-fire was unrealistic.
The vote was delayed twice on Friday, and the Security Council eventually scheduled a vote for later Saturday.
U. S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who did not participate in the cease-fire negotiations, condemned Russia on Friday for “stalling a vote on a ceasefire.” Haley asked in the tweet, “How many more people will die” before a vote. “The Syrian people can’t wait.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Damascus needed guarantees that residential areas would not continue to be attacked by rebel fighters.
“For the resolution to be effective, and we are ready to negotiate such a text, we put forward a principle that will enable the ceasefire to become real and based on guarantees of all those inside Eastern Ghouta and beyond Eastern Ghouta,” Lavrov said.
The powder keg was lit in March 2011, amid the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic regimes throughout the Arab World. A group in Syria showing their support were arrested and tortured by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, prompting thousands to protest.
Assad’s forces responded by killing dozens, igniting a full-blown civil war to overthrow the regime. The growing chaos attracted terrorists throughout the region, including remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq and an offshoot that became the Islamic State, or ISIS.
By 2014, ISIS militants began seizing large swaths of territory in Syria, including Raqqa as its de facto capital and the oil region Deir ez-Zor, as well as territory in Iraq.
The ongoing conflict has drawn in several other nations, including the United States, Russia and Turkey.
The civil war has killed nearly a half-million people and forced 5 million Syrians to flee, the majority to neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. More than 1 million refugees landed in Europe, contributing to biggest migration crisis since World War II.
According to the United Nations, nearly 3 million Syrian children have lived their entire lives gripped by civil war.
The civil war has destroyed historic cities such as Palmyra, which ISIS blew up in 2015.
Russia is still bombing areas outside Damascus not controlled by the regime. Activists say this is causing scores of civilian deaths and many people are trapped without adequate food or medical care.
The U. S. has accused the Syrian government of using chlorine gas or other chemical weapons on civilians in rebel enclaves.
Contributing: Alan Gomez, Kim Hjelmgaard, Jim Michaels, The Associated Press
