by Rhona Tarrant, Eoin Corbett, Peadar Grogan
In February 2018, after almost seven years of conflict in Syria, government forces launched an offensive against opposition-held areas to the east of the capital city, Damascus, an area known as East Ghouta.
By March 21, just over a month after the offensive began, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported some 1,600 civilians had been killed and about 50,000 people displaced.
The region was home to about 400,000 people who, since 2013, had been largely cut off from the outside world by the fighting. Years of conflict had already destroyed homes, damaged infrastructure, and left thousands dead.
A March 8 UN study of satellite imagery, comparing February 23 and March 6, showed some 14 percent of the areas assessed across eastern Damascus had received major new damage, with “buildings completely destroyed or severely damaged.”
This most recent bombardment follows years of destruction in residential areas in the region. In early December 2017, Save the Children reported on the destruction, citing the town of Ain Tarma where some 71 percent of buildings had been destroyed or damaged.
Building on this information and using satellite imagery, open source tools, and content from eyewitnesses, media activists, and official sources, Storyful has been able to document the impact of the destruction caused by both government and opposition forces on the region and its citizens.