Syria conflict: Six dead in Ghouta airstrikes day after ceasefire agreement

At least six people have been killed in new airstrikes on eastern Ghouta despite a 30-day ceasefire agreement from the UN Security Council.

The Syrian Civil Defence in Damascus Province said aid at least one man was killed in Saqba town, one was woman killed in Hamoria town and one man in Otaya town.

The Damascus Media Centre said that two children and their mother were killed in strikes on Douma city.

The deaths come after the ceasefire in Syria was agreed to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

Meanwhile, Islam Army (Jaish al-Islam), the biggest opposition faction in eastern Ghouta, said that they had killed 25 regime fighters while attempting to advance.

Activists said there were some clashes on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta along with two airstrikes just hours after the resolution was unanimously adopted on Saturday night.

Ghouta-based opposition activist Anas al-Dimashqi said the night was calm but warplanes and drones were flying over rebel-held areas and several explosions were heard.

Dr Sakhr al-Dimashqi, a surgeon at a clinic in Ghouta, said several shells hit some towns in the suburbs and six wounded people were treated at the clinic.

But he said: "The shelling today is not as intense as over the past week."

The observatory said the death toll had hit almost 500, including 165 children and 64 women .

Two of the largest and most powerful rebel factions in Ghouta, Failaq al-Rahman and Army of Islam, said they would abide by the 30-day ceasefire unless they are forced to fire in self-defence. Both called for the "immediate delivery" of emergency aid.

The resolution excludes the Islamic State and al Qaeda -linked fighters and Ghouta is also home to a few hundred members of the al Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee.

Residents in Damascus reported more traffic on the streets compared to previous days and most schools and universities were open.

They said some private schools were still closed, especially those close to the front lines with Ghouta.

Saturday's United Nations vote came after being delayed on Friday when Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had repeatedly called an immediate ceasefire unrealistic.

In a bid to get Russian support, sponsors Kuwait and Sweden amended the draft resolution late on Friday to drop a demand that the ceasefire take effect 72 hours after the resolution's adoption.

After two hours of extra negotiations, the Security Council unanimously approved the resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire across Syria "without delay" to deliver humanitarian aid to millions and evacuate the seriously ill and wounded.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said she and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in a phone call on Sunday with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

It said they called on Russia to "exert maximum pressure on the Syrian regime to achieve an immediate halt to the airstrikes and fighting".

The German and French leaders argued that a ceasefire would also offer a basis to move forward the UN-brokered effort to find a political solution to the war in Syria.

Russia has been a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad since the country's conflict began seven years ago. In 2015, Moscow joined the war on Assad's side tipping the balance of power in his favour.