The announced ceasefire has begun - every day the weapons in East Ghuta will rest for five hours. Civilians should be able to flee and supplies be brought into the besieged area.
One of the last remaining rebel strongholds in Syria is East Ghuta. The region has recently seen one of the worst waves since the beginning of the civil war almost seven years ago. But since Tuesday morning the weapons rest at least for a while.
Already on Saturday, the UN had ordered a 30-day ceasefire for Syria. In eastern Ghuta, however, the warring factions did not stop them: the region near Damascus was further bombed.
Only on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a daily five-hour ceasefire. It will now be held daily from 9 to 14 clock local time.
The ceasefire is intended to provide aid for the people in the besieged region. In addition, corridors are to be opened, through which civilians can leave the area. In eastern Ghuta, around 400,000 people are almost completely cut off from the outside world.
So far, the ceasefire is apparently respected to a large extent, reported by the Syrian observatory for Human Rights. The information provided by this organization can not be independently verified, but has proven to be reliable in the past.
Observers fear that a ceasefire will not last as long as the governments of the fighting parties refer to their opponents as terrorists.
According to information from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 560 civilians have been killed in eastern Ghuta over the past nine days.
Source: Reuters, dpa
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