Civilians fleeing the conflict in Eastern Ghouta by passing through Hush Nasri shared their terrifying experiences of living in besieged villages on Friday.
A woman recounted how opposition forces used them as “human shields”, not allowing them to leave their houses while they were under attack.
A man who was also feeling said:
“They fired at us, they did not want us to flee at all, they fired at the car wheels so that we could not flee.”
According to the testimonies of people fleeing Eastern Ghouta through the humanitarian corridor, opposition forces fired at them even as they were fleeing, leaving several people injured.
More than 4,000 civilians, including women and children, were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta through the Hamouriyah humanitarian corridor.
Full transcript:
W/S Civilians near Hush Nasri region as they leave East Ghouta
SOT, Syrian woman (Arabic): “They [insurgents] were living with us, next to our houses and inside them. They would open a road amongst the houses to be able to move. They would not leave, and we would not dare to say “get out”. Then the shelling was over and it is us who became part of the human shields. We were not allowed to move.”
SOT, Syrian man (Arabic): “They fired at us, they did not want us to flee at all, they fired at the cars’ wheels so that we could not flee, I swear. There was no flour, no bread, no water at all. They let no one out.”
SOT, Syrian woman (Arabic): “They were sieging us inside the basements and we were strictly prevented from getting out at all, they caused us hunger and everything, we were saved by God today, they were even firing at us today as we were moving out, we were targeted by snipers today, we were about to die, someone was shot.”
SOT, Syrian woman (Arabic): “We wanted to get out for a long time, and we wanted the Syrian Arab Army to take us out, but we could not. We were detained and put inside houses, and they fired at us today, a lot of people were injured today. Thank God.”
SOT, Syrian man (Arabic): “The aid were given to certain categories, that means that they distributed very few. Most of the medical aid was sold for money, and I know that because I produced medical materials. An Augmentin film of 7 pills was sold for 4,500 liras, it was from the Relive [agencies] and the UN, it was distributed in Ghouta under the supervision of our government, but [the insurgents] were selling it for 4,500 liras.”
SOT, Syrian woman (Arabic): “We had no food or water. We are 10 and we could not buy a kilo of flour, we starved. In addition, we wanted to flee but they prevented us, we fled against their will, they fired at us, half of the people were shot. Look at our children, bare feet, hungry, and without clothes, but [the insurgents] showed no mercy, they kept the commodities in stores for their benefit while our children starved to death, and they fired at us as even when we wanted to get out.”
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Source: Ruptly
Featured image is from Al Masdar News.
