The Latest: UN body to probe violence in Syria's Ghouta
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The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):
12:20 p.m.
The U.N.'s top human rights body has called for U.N.-mandated investigators for Syria to conduct an urgent and targeted probe of recent violence in the eastern Ghouta region outside of Damascus.
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The Human Rights Council on Monday adopted a resolution proposed by Britain in a 29-4 vote. There were 14 abstentions.
The resolution instructs the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, created six-and-a-half years ago by the council, to conduct a "comprehensive and independent inquiry into the recent events" in eastern Ghouta and report back at the next council session in June.
The resolution also threw the council's support behind a Security Council resolution passed last month, calling for a 30-day cease-fire across Syria to allow humanitarian aid in and to evacuate the sick and injured.
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11:25 a.m.
The Syrian government says it has achieved "significant" progress in its ongoing military operation in rebel-held suburbs east of Damascus, seizing around 36 percent of the total area held by different armed groups.
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Syria's Central Military Media says troops are continuing their advance from the east and are only 3 kilometers, or 1.8 miles, from meeting troops advancing from the west, which would achieve the partitioning of eastern Ghouta into two parts.
Monday's announcement comes a day after troops recaptured control over the town of Nashabiyah and a number of villages and farms in eastern Ghouta in the largest advances since the government's wide-scale operation began last month.
Eastern Ghouta has been under daily bombardment for months. More than 600 civilians have been killed in the last two weeks alone.