The attack on Syria's capital, blamed on rebels, comes as the government presses an offensive on eastern Ghouta. Separately, the UN warned over the humanitarian situation in Afrin after Turkish forces took the enclave.
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Rebel rocket fire on a busy market in a suburb of government-controlled Damascus killed at least 35 people on Tuesday, state media reported.
More than 20 others were wounded in the attack on the Kashkol neighborhood. It marked one of the highest death tolls in a single attack targeting the government-held capital.
The rocket fire came as the Syrian regime and its allies continued to press a month-long offensive against the rebel-held pocket in eastern Ghouta.
Syrian forces continued to carry out airstrikes in eastern Ghouta on March 20Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Abu Taim
At least 38 civilians were killed on Tuesday in a heavy bombardment of the enclave, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian regime's bid to retake eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, has left more than 1,400 dead. Some 45,000 people have fled the Damascus suburb to government-controlled areas.
Government allied forces now control 80 percent of eastern Ghouta and have split it into three pockets, each controlled by a different rebel faction.
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
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Separately, "Islamic State" (IS) militants took control of a neighborhood in the southern part of eastern Ghouta.
At least 36 soldiers and pro-government militia members were killed in the attack on the neighborhood of Qadam, which the government had captured from rebels last week. IS also has a presence in the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk.
UN sounds alarm for displaced, trapped civilians
Meanwhile, the UN warned on Tuesday that civilians are "still trapped and in dire need of aid" in eastern Ghouta, which has been under government siege for nearly five years.
Humanitarian crisis in Syria
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Further north, more than 100,000 civilians have been displaced in Afrin since the Turkish military and its rebel allies took control of the Kurdish enclave over the weekend. Another 100,000 civilians are trapped in the countryside.
Many of the civilians are in need of humanitarian aid, the UN said.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said it delivered 25 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians in Tel Rifaat, south-east of Afrin, where many people have fled to.
The aid deliveries arrived amid reports that Turkish-backed rebels were looting Afrin for a third day on Tuesday.
The looting represents an embarrassment for Ankara, which is seeking to rule over the population after scoring a major success in defeating the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara was "sensitive" to reports of pillaging and promised Turkey "will not allow it."
