(Zaman Al Wasl- Xinhua)- The ceasefire negotiations, which have been taking place to achieve a 15-day truce east of the capital Damascus, have failed, a monitor group reported Thursday.
The Syrian government forces and an array of rebel groups in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus have failed to agree on a ceasefire that could have been a sign of pacification in the capital and its surrounding, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based monitor group, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said both parties were tight-lipped about the steps and the details of the negotiations.
It noted that the reasons behind the faltering negations were not immediately clear.
A day earlier, the Observatory said a ceasefire, mediated by the Russians, could take place between the Syrian troops and the rebels in the eastern countryside of Damascus, adding that the negotiated truce could start as of Thursday.
It added that the ceasefire, if agreed upon, will last for 15 days as a trial period, which could be extended if the initial ceasefire succeeded.
Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar, while didn't totally deny the claims, said late on Wednesday that talks about a ceasefire in Ghouta "up till this moment are rumors," in what appeared to be a matter under discussion but has not yet been agreed upon.
The legal adviser of the rebels Free Syrian Army, Osama Abu Zaid, also commented on the ceasefire talks, saying on Wednesday the ceasefire will start on Thursday as a gesture of goodwill, where the Russians guarantee that the regime will not shell any area in Eastern Ghouta or target it during 15 days.
On Wednesday, local monitoring group said in report that 338 people, including 69 children and 47 women, have been killed in three-week-old offensive on Eastern Ghouta suburbs.
The central department of statistics and documentation in the unified relief office in Embattled Ghouta district said 1602 people were also wounded and 1067 houses were destroyed.
252 of the victims were from Douma city, 10 km (7 miles) northeast Damascus. 820 houses have been destroyed in the rebel-held city, the center said.
Eastern Ghouta is a sprawling terrain, largely agricultural, which was among the first areas to fall to the rebels in the early times of the nearly five-year-old conflict. Rebels in Ghouta are responsible for the blind mortar shelling that target the capital on daily basis.
Syrian regime troops and fighters from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah backed by Russian air strikes launched on Oct.29 a major offensive against eastern and western suburbs of Damascus.
Since 2011, four million Syrians have fled abroad. Millions more have been internally displaced, while at least 250,000 have been killed.
The Syrian government forces and an array of rebel groups in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus have failed to agree on a ceasefire that could have been a sign of pacification in the capital and its surrounding, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based monitor group, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said both parties were tight-lipped about the steps and the details of the negotiations.
It noted that the reasons behind the faltering negations were not immediately clear.
A day earlier, the Observatory said a ceasefire, mediated by the Russians, could take place between the Syrian troops and the rebels in the eastern countryside of Damascus, adding that the negotiated truce could start as of Thursday.
It added that the ceasefire, if agreed upon, will last for 15 days as a trial period, which could be extended if the initial ceasefire succeeded.
Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar, while didn't totally deny the claims, said late on Wednesday that talks about a ceasefire in Ghouta "up till this moment are rumors," in what appeared to be a matter under discussion but has not yet been agreed upon.
The legal adviser of the rebels Free Syrian Army, Osama Abu Zaid, also commented on the ceasefire talks, saying on Wednesday the ceasefire will start on Thursday as a gesture of goodwill, where the Russians guarantee that the regime will not shell any area in Eastern Ghouta or target it during 15 days.
On Wednesday, local monitoring group said in report that 338 people, including 69 children and 47 women, have been killed in three-week-old offensive on Eastern Ghouta suburbs.
The central department of statistics and documentation in the unified relief office in Embattled Ghouta district said 1602 people were also wounded and 1067 houses were destroyed.
252 of the victims were from Douma city, 10 km (7 miles) northeast Damascus. 820 houses have been destroyed in the rebel-held city, the center said.
Eastern Ghouta is a sprawling terrain, largely agricultural, which was among the first areas to fall to the rebels in the early times of the nearly five-year-old conflict. Rebels in Ghouta are responsible for the blind mortar shelling that target the capital on daily basis.
Syrian regime troops and fighters from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah backed by Russian air strikes launched on Oct.29 a major offensive against eastern and western suburbs of Damascus.
Since 2011, four million Syrians have fled abroad. Millions more have been internally displaced, while at least 250,000 have been killed.
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