Airstrikes target "rebel"-held areas east of Damascus

Warplanes carried out 20 airstrikes against rebel-held areas east of the capital Damascus at early time Wednesday, as an extended 48-hours truce expired last night, a monitoring group said.

The airstrikes targeted the towns of Deir al-Asafir, and Shaba' amid shelling from the ground troops on Deir al-Asafir, according to the [so-called] Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the army forces are trying to advance in Deir al-Asafir in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus.

On Monday, the Syrian army said the regime of silence state near the capital Damascus was extended for 48 hours.

It was the second time the "regime of silence" truce was being extended in the Eastern Ghouta.

On Sunday, the army announced it has extended the truce for additional 24 hours, just a couple of days after declaring such a system.

On Friday, Russia and the United States have reportedly agreed to enhance truce in northern Latakia and suburbs of Damascus.

However, the northern city of Aleppo, which has recently seen an escalation of violence, was not included in the regime of silence while reports by the pro-government al-Watan newspaper said that Moscow and Washington were discussing ways to include Aleppo into the cease-fire.
 [Xinhua -china.org.cn]
4/5/16
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