Deadly strike hits Syria rebel town despite truce: monitor

AFP  |  Beirut 

An air strike has killed eight civilians in a rebel-held town east of Damascus where a truce was supposed to have taken effect at the weekend, a monitor said.

Three children and a woman were among the dead in the 11:30 PM strike on Arbin in the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave where the declared a ceasefire on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.


Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said either warplanes or those of its Russian ally carried out the strike, which also wounded at least 30 people.

The truce announced for Eastern Ghouta on Saturday was the second unveiled under an agreement struck by allies and and rebel backer Turkey in May.

A similar ceasefire was announced for southern areas of Syria on July 9.

Under the agreement, so-called "de-escalation zones" are planned for four key battlegrounds between forces and the rebels.

But there have been disagreements over their borders and who will police them.

said on Monday that it had set up two checkpoints and four observation posts in Eastern Ghouta to monitor the ceasefire.

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