Syria bombs Damascus suburb a day after deadly air strikes

Survivors say the global focus on Islamic State means other atrocities are ignored

Syrian jets have again bombed the opposition-held Damascus suburb of Douma hours after the United Nations condemned air strikes carried out on Sunday that killed more than 100 people.

Warplanes attacked the district for the second day running yesterday amid claims from survivors that the global focus on Islamic State meant other atrocities were increasingly being ignored.

Stephen O’Brien, the UN’s most senior humanitarian official, said he was horrified by the total disrespect for civilian life in the conflict, which has left at least 250,000 people dead and up to four times that number injured.

Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Damascus, O’Brien reiterated that “attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop”.

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“I am particularly appalled by reports of air strikes causing scores of civilian deaths and hundreds injured.”

The attack on a marketplace near the centre of Douma on Sunday was one of the deadliest air strikes by the regime in the four-year civil war. – (Reuters)