page_title: Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018)
section_title: Initial bombardment
hierarchical_section_title: Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018) / Offensive / Initial bombardment
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Ruines à Zamalka, dans la Ghouta orientale, en Syrie, le 22 février 2018.
context_page_description: The Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018), code-named Operation Damascus Steel, was a military offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army in February 2018 in a bid to capture the rebel-held eastern Ghouta suburb during the Syrian Civil War. East Ghouta, a pocket of towns and farms, had been under government siege since 2013 and had been a major rebel stronghold in the vicinity of the capital of Damascus. According to the United Nations, nearly 400,000 people live in East Ghouta.
  On 14 April, the Syrian Army fully captured the Eastern Ghouta pocket. Before the offensive had concluded, the Associated Press reported that the capture of the whole rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave would represent one of the most significant victories for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, and the worst setback for the rebels since their defeat in the Battle of Aleppo in late 2016. Similarly, Reuters stated the capture of Eastern Ghouta would represent the biggest prize for President al-Assad since the full recapture of Aleppo. During the offensive, one of the heaviest bombardments of the war took place with more than 1,700 people being killed by air and artillery strikes.
context_section_description: On the evening of 18 February 2018, heavy artillery and airstrikes began targeting the rebel-held East Ghouta enclave. The Syrian Air Force launched large-scale air raids over the region, with warplanes reportedly striking rebel defensive positions, hospitals, and residential areas in and around the district towns of Douma, Hamouriyah, Saqba and Mesraba. Accompanying artillery shelling and rocket strikes pounded rebel territory. Overall, 260 rocket and air-strikes were conducted during the day. By the following day, the strikes had reportedly killed 94 civilians. Concurrently, government troops were preparing for a ground assault, establishing positions on both the western and eastern axis of the pocket. Early rebel retaliatory mortar attacks on central Damascus killed one civilian. Around midnight between 19 and 20 February, the Russian Air Force joined the offensive as well, targeting several rebel-held districts.
  On 22 February, the Syrian Army dropped leaflets over Ghouta, calling on residents to leave the area and urging opposition fighters to hand themselves over. Meanwhile, a total of 16 civilians had been killed and about 128 wounded in retaliatory rebel rocket attacks on Damascus between the 18 and 20 February. On 24 February, despite the adopted resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, it was reported that airstrikes continued after the vote.
caption: Area of Zamalka that was destroyed by the bombardment.
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