A nationwide ceasefire was holding across most of Syria yesterday but clashes near Damascus underlined the fragility of the deal brokered by Turkey and Russia
Syrian men gather in the rebel-held town of Saqba, during a demonstration against the Syrian regime, on the first day of a nationwide truce. Pic/AFP
Damascus: A nationwide ceasefire was holding across most of Syria yesterday but clashes near Damascus underlined the fragility of the deal brokered by Turkey and Russia.
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The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government and rebel forces were fighting in the Wadi Barada area, where opposition fighters have cut water supplies to the capital.
A resident confirmed the sound of shelling in the area yesterday morning. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said it was unclear who had started the clashes, with both sides blaming the other.
Syria's government had been shelling the area before the truce began at midnight as it pushes rebels there to accept a "reconciliation deal" and leave the area. Among the forces present there is former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, which Syria's government says is excluded from the ceasefire.
The Observatory reported early morning clashes in the central province of Hama between the government and jihadist fighters. Elsewhere, AFP correspondents in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside Damascus, and Idlib province in northwest Syria reported quiet. The ceasefire is the first nationwide truce to be implemented in the country since September, and is intended to pave the way for new peace talks in Kazakhstan being organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Syria's government hailed it as a "real opportunity" to find a political solution to the war, which has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-regime protests in March 2011.
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People in Damascus and its suburbs who haven't received water supply for a week
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