LONDON -- In the merciless bombardment of eastern Ghouta, nowhere is safe. Missiles rained down on one neighborhood, as 10-year-old Noor and 8-year-old Alaa tweeted their plight to the world.

"The children are in danger of being mortared," Noor said. "Save the children of Ghouta before it's too late."

Two sisters plea for help from Syria CBS News

On Thursday, it was almost too late. An explosion blew out their windows, sending shrapnel and glass through their home, slashing Alaa's forehead. CBS News reached their mother, Shamza Khatib, an English teacher, after the blast. We asked how her daughters are doing now.

"Yeah ok, but they are afraid of warplanes they are under the blankets," she responded.

She told us she feels like her family and neighbors have been abandoned.

"The world is just watching what is happening in Ghouta," Khatib said. "Why?"

Syrian rescuers and civilians run at the site of Syrian government bombardments in Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on February 22, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ABDULMONAM EASSA (Photo credit should read ABDULMONAM EASSA/AFP/Getty Images) Abdulmonam Eassa / AFP/Getty Images

The Syrian regime and its Russian backers insist this week's assault is aimed at rebels, but with civilian death tolls is in the hundreds, many of the victims are children.

A man cradled a small, shrouded body -- a sobbing father couldn't bring himself to let go.