Up to 13 civilians, including at least one child and one woman, were killed and several left wounded as Douma, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, continued to be subject to heavy air and artillery shelling, local media reported, though the apportion of blame was not clear.

While several parts of eastern Ghouta was subject to heavy shelling on Friday, February 23rd, resulting in large numbers of civilian fatalities, activists told al-Jazeera that “the largest number of casualties was in the city of Douma.”

Zaman al-Wasl reported how Douma’s residential neighborhoods had been struck by  “two air strikes and shelling of rocket launchers.”

Moreover, Enab Baladi, who blamed the Syrian regime, reported that the city also had been struck by a cluster bomb.

The death toll spanned from five, as reported by Step News Agency to as many as 13, reported by Enab Baladi, Zaman al-Wasl and LCCSY.

Step News Agency added that one woman was among the fatalities while a photo published by al-Jazeera revealed at least one child fatality.

Without providing exact figures, reports mentioned that “a number of civilians” were left wounded.

As few sources apportioned blame, it remained unclear who was responsible. Some pointed to the Assad regime, Damaski Agency to Russia and LCCSY to both parties.

Finally, Al-Yaman al-Hur blamed “the crimes of Assad, Iran, and Russia.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

As the aerial and artillery shelling of eastern Ghouta continued on its third day, up to 17 people, including at least four children and two women, were killed and several were wounded as the town of Hazza was struck by Russian and/or Syrian regime forces, local media reported.

What Zaman al-Wasl, described as “a fierce military campaign” continued in eastern Ghouta, including Hazza, and contained both artillery shelling and missile attacks, especially striking residential areas.

In Hazza, the initial reports put the death toll between seven and nine, which according to Ghouta Media Center (GMC) included children and women from the same family. The source, who blamed Russian air raids, reported “the death of a whole family of eight people, including four children and two women.”

However, on the following day, February 22nd, GMC itself amended the death toll to 17, noting that additional bodies had been found under the rubble.

According to reports, the strikes had also caused injuries among the civilians who were trapped in the rubble, though no exact figures were provided.

Several reports mentioned that the city had been struck by explosive barrels launched from helicopters. For example, HalabToday TV reported how “the Medical Mercy Center is out of service by shelling the explosive barrel on the town of Haza.”

Sources were not clear in terms of culpability, as blame was appointed to either the Syrian regime, Russia, or both across the reports. However, in one report GMC blamed Russian airstrikes while in another, it blamed Syrian regime helicopters for launching explosive barrels, thus indicating engagements from both belligerents.

The local time of the incident is unknown.