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Deaths, exodus in Syria

Dozens killed as Ghouta, Afrin offensives reach decisive phase; Russia accuses West of enabling terrorists after talks with Turkey, Iran

AFP, Adra
***Russian air strikes kill 57 civilians in Ghouta
Turkish fire on Afrin kills 18 civilians***
Warplanes pounded Syria's Eastern Ghouta yesterday as Islamist groups tried to resist an advance by Russian-backed regime forces and civilians looked for cracks through which to flee the five-year-old siege.
At least 57 civilians were killed as the toll for the month-old assault near Damascus continued to mount and world powers remained unable to stop one of the seven-year con-
flict's worst crises.
The war entered its eighth year with another deadly assault unfolding in the north, where Turkish-led forces pressed an operation to seize the Kurdish-majority region of
Afrin, sending thousands more civilians on to the roads.
Turkish artillery fire killed 18 civilians yesterday in the city of Afrin, where remaining residents were stocking up on food in preparation for a fully-fledged siege.
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday accused western powers of enabling terrorists in Syria, after meeting with Iran and Turkey for a new round of talks to try and broker an end to the conflict there.
The Russian, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers had met in the Kazakh capital of Astana, and the focus of their consultations was Eastern Ghouta. The Astana meeting was to lay the ground for a summit involving the presidents of the three countries in Istanbul on April 4.
Speaking after the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of shielding terrorists and even trying to “preserve their combat potential"
Lavrov singled out Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group made up mostly of al-Qaeda's ex-affiliate Al-Nusra Front which is present in Eastern Ghouta.
He claimed the group was "playing a role in a scenario directed by Western directors."
On the edge of Ghouta, a sprawling semi-rural area within mortar range of central Damascus, hundreds of civilians were still streaming out of destroyed towns, carrying scant belongings in bags and bundles.
An exodus of similar proportions was under way hundreds of kilometres to the north near the border with Turkey, as civilians tried to escape a looming siege of the city of Afrin.
The Observatory said on Thursday that more than 30,000 people had fled the city of Afrin in 24 hours and civilians were still trying to slip out yesterday before Turkish-led forces cut the last exit road.