This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33874569

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Syria conflict: Ceasefire comes into effect for three towns Syria conflict: Two-day ceasefires begin in three towns
(about 4 hours later)
Rebel groups and pro-government forces have agreed a 48-hour ceasefire in three Syrian towns, activists say. Forty-eight-hour ceasefires between Syrian rebels and pro-government forces have reportedly begun in three towns.
The ceasefire began at 03:00GMT in rebel-held Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, and in Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province, under army control, Hezbollah's al-Manar TV says. The truces will allow food and medical supplies to be delivered to the rebel stronghold of Zabadani, on the border with Lebanon, and to government-held Fuaa and Kafraya in the north-west.
The deal was reportedly agreed between rebels allied to al-Nusra Front and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group. They were agreed by the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is an ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, dozens of people have been killed in government air raids and by rebel rocketfire around Damascus.
"A ceasefire began at 6am today for 48 hours to halt military operations in Zabadani," al-Manar reported on Wednesday morning. Activists said at least 27 civilians were killed when aircraft attacked the suburbs of Douma, Kafr Batna, Saqba and Hamouriya in the Eastern Ghouta agricultural belt.
"It also includes the two villages of al-Fuaa and Kafraya in the Idlib countryside." The raids came after rebel fighters fired dozens of rockets at several central districts of the city, killing five people and wounding more than 55, officials said.
Local ceasefires have occasionally been brokered to allow food and medical aid into besieged areas. 'Further steps'
Activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said negotiations were also taking place on the possible withdrawal of all rebel fighters from Zabadani, as well as a halt to the siege of Fuaa and Kafraya and the delivery of aid. The 48-hour ceasefires in Zabadani, Fuaa and Kafraya began at 06:00 (03:00 GMT) on Wednesday, according to Hezbollah's al-Manar TV.
Insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham, an ally of al-Nusra Front, was said to be leading negotiations from the rebels' side. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said no fighting had so far been reported.
Earlier, rebel forces were reported to have advanced to the edge of the north-western region that is the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect. However, the UK-based monitoring group added that talks were continuing on evacuating rebel fighters from Zabadani and ending the sieges of the two government-held towns.
A military source said government troops had taken up new defensive positions in the Sahl al-Ghab plain. "The ceasefire will begin and some [people] who are in critical condition will be evacuated. Talks will discuss further steps," a source close to the Syrian government told the Reuters news agency.
Last month, President Assad acknowledged the Syrian army was facing a shortage of troops and had withdrawn from some areas. Zabadani has been under attack for weeks by the Syrian army and fighters from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia Islamist movement allied to President Bashar al-Assad.
The uprising against President Assad began in 2011 and has claimed more than 230,000 lives. About 45km (30 miles) north-west of Damascus, it is the last significant town held by rebel forces in the Qalamoun mountains, which run along the border with Lebanon.
About 11.5 million people - more than half of the country's population - have fled their homes. Last month, the UN envoy for Syria said government barrel-bomb attacks on Zabadani had caused "unprecedented levels of destruction and many deaths among the civilian population".
Fuaa and Kafraya, two neighbouring Shia towns in the province of Idlib, have meanwhile been besieged by a rebel alliance that includes Ahrar al-Sham, a hardline Islamist group, and the jihadist al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
The rebels have driven government forces out of much of Idlib in the past six months, and are now advancing on the coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of the heterodox Shia Alawite sect to which the president and his family belongs.
On Tuesday, a military source confirmed that government troops had been forced to retreat and take up new defensive positions in the Sahl al-Ghab plain in eastern Latakia.
Last month, President Assad acknowledged the army faced a manpower shortage and had withdrawn from some areas in order to defend those he considered most significant
More than 230,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad erupted in 2011. Some 11.5 million others - more than half of the country's population - have fled their homes.