World

Syrian warplanes strike near Damascus despite ceasefire

July 24, 2017
A Syrian boy walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the northern city of Aleppo. — AFP
A Syrian boy walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the northern city of Aleppo. — AFP

BEIRUT — Syrian government warplanes carried out several air strikes in the eastern Ghouta area east of Damascus on Sunday, a day after the Syrian military declared a cessation of hostilities in the area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The British-based monitoring group said Saturday had been relatively calm after the ceasefire took effect with isolated incidents of shellfire.

On Sunday, six air strikes hit the towns of Douma and Ain Terma in rebel-held eastern Ghouta, it reported.

There was no immediate comment from the government or army.

Syria's military declared a "cessation of fighting activities" starting at noon on Saturday in besieged eastern Ghouta, which has long been controlled by the opposition.

One rebel group in eastern Ghouta quickly welcomed the ceasefire.

A separate statement from Cairo-based political opposition movement Al-Ghad, headed by Ahmad Jarba, said the agreement had been reached in Cairo, sponsored by Egypt and Russia and with the involvement of mainstream rebel groups.

There was to be a full ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, no government forces would enter the area and aid would be allowed in, it said.

Numerous attempts at a lasting ceasefire in western Syria, where rebels have lost ground to government forces and their allies over the last year, have often collapsed with both sides trading the blame.

The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a ceasefire and "de-escalation agreement" for southwestern Syria this month, which has reduced violence. That agreement did not include eastern Ghouta.

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.

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. But no rebel group said it had signed the Cairo agreement, with one influential group saying it was not involved.

The Cairo meeting "follows on from the ceasefire deal for the south of Syria" that took hold on July 9, said Wael Alwan, a spokesman for Faylaq al-Rahman.

That ceasefire for southern areas of Syria was brokered by Russia, the United States and Jordan.

Russia said it and the rebels had signed agreements under which "the borders of the de-escalation zone are defined as well as the deployment locations and powers of the forces monitoring the de-escalation".

It said the sides had also agreed "routes to supply humanitarian aid to the population and for free movement of residents".

Russia said it plans to send in the first humanitarian convoy and evacuate wounded "in the next few days".

The two other "de-escalation zones" included in the May deal are the rebel-held province of Idlib and northern parts of the central province of Homs.

More than 2.5 million people are believed to live in the four zones.

The May accord roughly laid out the areas where rebels and government forces should halt hostilities, including air strikes, for six months.

However, Russia, Turkey and Iran failed to meet a June 4 deadline to set exact boundaries for the zones.

A new meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana is expected during the last week of August, with rebels as well as representatives from Turkey and Iran to attend, Russia has said.

Moscow has argued the zones agreement would provide moderate rebels with security and help focus attacks against militant groups such as former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front and the Daesh group.

In neighboring Lebanon, a mediator was killed in a second day of fighting Saturday in the Jurud Arsal area near the border between the Hezbollah group, which backs Assad, and militants, officials said.

Lebanon's army said Ahmad Al-Fliti was killed in shelling by "the terrorist organization of the Al-Nusra Front", referring to Fateh Al-Sham.

Eleven Hezbollah fighters killed since the Shiite group's operation began were buried in Lebanon on Saturday. — Agencies


July 24, 2017
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