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On January 26, Ahmad Ramadan, a spokesman for the Syrian opposition, announced that a new ceasefire agreement in the Eastern Ghouta region was reached during the Vienna talks. According to Ramadan, the ceasefire will being at 12:00 local time.
An unnamed spokesperson for the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) group Faylaq al-Rahman confirmed to the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet SMART that the ceasefire agreement was reached between all the sides. However, the Damascus government has not commented on these reports so far.
The new ceasefire will put an end to the Ahrar al-Sham Movement attack on the Armored Vehicles Base in the northern part of the Eastern Ghouta region that have been ongoing since November 2017. The agreement will also end the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) attack on the Harasta district north of the base.
Syrian sources reported that hundreds of civilians, opposition fighters and Syrian soldiers were killed during the battles in Eastern Ghouta in the last three months.
While the new ceasefire agreement will for sure ease the humanitarian suffering inside and around Eastern Ghouta, Syrian pro-government activists warned that Ahrar al-Sham Movement and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) may break the ceasefire like they did with the previous agreement.
Radical militants in Eastern Ghouta usually take advantage of such ceasefire agreements and use them tto resupply, reorganize its forces and to launch new attacks against the SAA.
