Syria announces truce in one of rebels’ last Damascus bastions
DAMASCUS: Syria on Saturday announced a ceasefire in one of the last rebel strongholds near Damascus after rebels and regime ally Russia agreed on a safe zone for the besieged opposition enclave.
With many of its towns and villages ravaged by bombardments in the six-year conflict, Eastern Ghouta near the capital is one of the last bastions of rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Eastern Ghouta is in one of four proposed “de- escalation zones” designated in a deal reached by government allies Iran and Russia and rebel backer Turkey in May.
But the accord has yet to be fully implemented over disagreements on policing the safe zones, and Eastern Ghouta is just the second zone to see a ceasefire come into force.
The army “announces a halt in fighting in some areas of Eastern Ghouta in Damascus province from midday on Saturday ( 0900 GMT),” it said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
“The army will retaliate in a suitable manner to any violation” of the ceasefire, the statement warned, without specifying what areas were included.
Russia said hours earlier it had signed a deal with “moderate” Syrian rebels at peace talks in Cairo on how a safe zone would function in Eastern Ghouta. — AFP