Russian military policemen guard a designated point to evacuate the ill civilians from the fighting Eastern Ghouta countryside in the Wafidin area, the countryside of Damascus, of Syria, on Feb. 28, 2018. The second day of the Russian-proposed humanitarian pause ended with no civilians leaving the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta hotspot east of the capital Damascus. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
DAMASCUS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The second day of the Russian-proposed humanitarian pause ended with no civilians leaving the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta hotspot east of the capital Damascus.
At the Wafidin area in the northeastern countryside of Damascus, buses and ambulances waited for five hours, the designated timeframe of the daily cease-fire, yet with no civilians leaving Eastern Ghouta and reaching the crossing point in the adjacent area.
The humanitarian pause was designed to give a five-hour lull to the fighting in Eastern Ghouta on a daily basis to allow civilians to evacuate the rebel-held enclave on the eastern flank of Damascus.
Like the first day, the humanitarian pause ended on Wednesday afternoon with both rebels and the Syrian government forces trading accusations over the faltering truce.
State news agency SANA said the rebels inside Eastern Ghouta fired several mortar rounds at the crossing point in Wafidin to prevent civilians from reaching government-controlled areas, saying the rebels have violated the truce.
The sounds of mortar shells and war planes were clearly heard during the pause, with black plumes of smoke billowing above several areas near Wafidin.
Meanwhile, the pro-rebel London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were no civilian causalities during the five-hour pause, adding that the Syrian warplanes resumed targeting Eastern Ghouta after the pause.
Despite the failure of civilians evacuation so far, relative calm prevailed in Damascus after the humanitarian pause went into force.
The pause entered into force at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) and is designed to continue until 2 p.m. in the conflict-torn area.
Such humanitarian pause, however, will take place every day within the same period of time to allow evacuation of civilians from the rebel-held zone.
The humanitarian pause comes just days after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2401, which requires all parties in Syria to immediately cease clashes and provide a sustained humanitarian break for at least 30 days.
But terror-designated groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front are excluded from the resolution, as the battles against them continue.
The UN organizations have already sounded the alarm about the situation in Eastern Ghouta, where 400,000 people are believed to be trapped in the sprawling area east of Damascus.
The military showdown started to intensify between the Syrian army and rebels 10 days ago, with mortar shells from rebels hitting Damascus while the Syrian forces continued their massive bombardment against rebel positions in Eastern Ghouta.
