Talks Fail to Broker Local Truce Near Damascus

Negotiations failed to produce a ceasefire between government forces and terrorists in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, an activist group announced on Thursday, amid contradictory reports on the possibility of establishment of truce in the region.

The Lebanese Daily Star newspaper quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying that the reasons for the failure of the talks were unknown.

The talks had been going on for a number of days and were mediated by “an international party”, it added.

The Observatory had reported Wednesday a 15-day ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta was due to be announced soon.

The reports came as the Syrian army is continuing its military operations in the depth of Eastern Ghouta where its forces clashed with terrorists in the vicinity of Marj al-Sultan airport.

In Jobar the army targeted several key gatherings of Takfiri militants and started cleaning operations alongside the international road linking Damascus to Homs province in Harasta area.