‘Militants tortured us and our children’ – East Ghouta civilians await evacuation

Civilians waiting to be evacuated from Syria’s Eastern Ghouta received humanitarian aid from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, with the assistance of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation on Friday.

One of the civilians said that he “suffered a lot” from the militants in Eastern Ghouta since people “had to stay there for a long time” and escape was not possible.

Another woman said “they’d been killing us, starving us, torturing us and our children.”

“We had been willing to escape for a long time but they didn’t let us go,” she added.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reportedly reached a deal which allows some 6,000 people, including 1,500 militants to flee.