Ghouta, Syria, might be a world away, but Ghouta.com is bringing Ghouta to the world. The website documents the Syrian regime’s siege of Eastern Ghouta from the end of 2013 until the present. There are tallies of people awaiting medical evacuation and people who have died while waiting for transport. The days under siege are also tracked. The latest reports challenge the imagination, leaving one searching for words.
More than 700 Syrians have been killed in aerial assaults that began Feb. 18. More than 4,000 were injured Feb. 18-27, according to international medical organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, which supported 13 local medical facilities, all of which have been hit in attacks. Residents suffer daily from barrel bombs dropped from helicopters along with missile strikes and ground offensives. Activists in Eastern Ghouta described the sky as the “biggest killer in Syria,” sending residents looking for shelter underground.