(Zaman Al Wasl)- A powerful Syrian insurgent group said on Thursday it was studying a local ceasefire proposal tabled by an international mediator aimed at halting fighting near Damascus.
Islam Alloush, spokesman for the Jaish al-Islam group, or Islam Army, told Reuters the ceasefire proposal had been presented by the mediator to the former head of a sharia board that operates in rebel-held areas, who in turn had presented it to rebel groups and civilian organizations in the opposition-held area.
"We, in Jaish al-Islam, are studying the subject in the leadership council," Alloush told Reuters, speaking via a web-based messaging system. He declined to give further details.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war, earlier reported the failure of negotiations aimed at achieved a local ceasefire between rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
A day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 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, according to Xinhua agency.
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.
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.
On Thursday, regime air force carried out at least 20 raids on Douma and Erbin and Mark al Sultan towns in Ghouta, local reporter said.
Local monitoring group said in report issued Wednesday 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.
Since 2011, four million Syrians have fled abroad. Millions more have been internally displaced, while at least 250,000 have been killed. (With agencies)
Islam Alloush, spokesman for the Jaish al-Islam group, or Islam Army, told Reuters the ceasefire proposal had been presented by the mediator to the former head of a sharia board that operates in rebel-held areas, who in turn had presented it to rebel groups and civilian organizations in the opposition-held area.
"We, in Jaish al-Islam, are studying the subject in the leadership council," Alloush told Reuters, speaking via a web-based messaging system. He declined to give further details.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war, earlier reported the failure of negotiations aimed at achieved a local ceasefire between rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
A day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 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, according to Xinhua agency.
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.
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.
On Thursday, regime air force carried out at least 20 raids on Douma and Erbin and Mark al Sultan towns in Ghouta, local reporter said.
Local monitoring group said in report issued Wednesday 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.
Since 2011, four million Syrians have fled abroad. Millions more have been internally displaced, while at least 250,000 have been killed. (With agencies)
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