At least 27 civilians were killed in Syrian government air strikes Wednesday on the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus as a barrage of deadly rebel rocket fire hit the capital, a monitor said.
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The strikes came as opposition fired dozens of rockets into Damascus, killing at least four soldiers, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
The group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said at least 20 people were injured, with some left in serious condition.
Activists in Darayya, a suburb of Damascus controlled by several rebel factions, reported that the Syrian regime carried out a series of airstrikes using incendiary bombs on August Tuesday, sparking fierce fires. The Local Coordination Committees said the air raids on Hamouriyeh, Saqba, Kfar Batna, Douma and Arbeen killed 15 and wounded dozens.
The Observatory said more than 50 shells hit central Damascus in a bombardment by insurgents that wounded 60 people. But discussions alone of that plan, which reportedly includes a cease-fire and a “national unity government”, likely won’t pause a conflict that’s killed more than 250,000 people since March 2011.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least four children were among the dead in regime strikes on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region, where some 120 people were also injured. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said he would be discussing a new plan to resolve the war.
Al Manar TV and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the ceasefire in Zabadani near the Lebanese border and the villages of Foua and Kfarya went into effect on Wednesday morning.
Zarif’s visit to Syria comes one day after he met in Beirut with Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters in support of Syrian government.
Meanwhile, Al-Manar and Syrian activists said a 48-hour cease-fire has started in a town near the Lebanese border and two Shiite villages in the north between Hezbollah fighters and rebels there.
Hezbollah and Syrian troops have been trying to fully capture the one-time rebel stronghold of Zabadani for more than a month.
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A coalition of rebel groups which calls itself Jaysh al-Fateh, or Conquest Army, retaliated by attacking Foua and Kfarya in Idlib province, which are home to mostly Shiite villagers.
