Syrian regime warplanes on Sunday carried out six raids on Eastern Ghouta suburbs, less than 24 hours since regime has declared cessation of hostilities near the capital, local reporter said.
The strikes have targeted towns of Douma, Eiyn Tarma, al-Rihan and Jisreen. No casualties reported.
Pro-regime media outlets said the strikes hit bastions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by al Qaeda's former Syria branch. Activists have refuted the claim, saying no presence for HTS in Douma.
State television reported on Saturday a "cessation of fighting activities in several areas of Eastern Ghouta." It said the cessation began at 12:00 noon (0900 GMT) and any violation would receive an "appropriate response".
Russia's defence ministry said that its officials had signed a deal with moderate Syrian rebels at peace talks in Cairo on how a safe zone in Eastern Ghouta will function.
"As a result of talks held in Cairo between Russian defence ministry officials and moderate Syrian opposition brokered by the Egyptian side ... agreements have been signed on how the Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zone will function," the defence ministry said in a statement sent to AFP.
Syrian rebel group Failaq al-Rahman, which operates in Eastern Ghouta, welcomed the cessation and said ceasefires were a first step to resolving the Syrian conflict. Writing on Twitter, spokesman Wael Olwan said the government must respect the truce.
Olwan told Zaman al-Wasl that the deal is a result of the ongoing communication between Russia, the United States and Jordan.
“We commend the position of the southern front factions operating in Houran which over the past days insisted that the ceasefire agreement in force in southern Syria be extended to include the eastern region of al-Ghouta, which the al-Assad forces and militias have repeatedly tried to invade in the recent period,” said Olwan.
The announcement about the Eastern Ghouta agreement came about two weeks after the South Agreement, which has not yet entered into force, was announced.
