DAMASCUS, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army declared a ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus starting at noon Saturday, according to state news agency SANA.
The army said that any violation of the ceasefire will be responded to accordingly, stopping short of giving details on how long the ceasefire will last.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its officials had signed a deal with moderate Syrian opposition at peace talks in Cairo on how a safe zone near Damascus will function.
"As a result of talks held in Cairo between Russian defense ministry officials and moderate Syrian opposition brokered by the Egyptian side, agreements have been signed on how the Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zone will function," the defense ministry said.
"The documents fix borders of the de-escalation zone, locations and authorities of the forces observing the de-escalation, as well as routes for delivery of humanitarian aid and for free movement of the civilians," the ministry said.
It added that "the first humanitarian convoy to the de-escalation zone and evacuation of the injured are due within days."
Meanwhile, the rebel group Jaish al-Islam, the main rebel force in Eastern Ghouta, said it agrees to the de-escalation deal in Eastern Ghouta.
According to the Russian Sputnik, Muhammad Allosh, an official in Jaish al-Islam, said the deal entered into effect and will contribute to breaking the siege on Ghouta and allowing the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel to the Ghouta areas.
He added that there will be a separation points between his group and the government forces, "and that is considered a part of the political solution and a prelude for the political settlement according to the international resolutions."
The opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta is in one of four proposed "de-escalation zones" designated in an agreement reached by Syrian government allies Iran and Russia and opposition backer Turkey in May.
However, the deal wasn't fully implemented over disagreements on the monitoring mechanism of the de-escalation zones in the four Syrian areas.
Earlier this month, a ceasefire reached by the US and Russia went into force in southern Syrian areas and was seen as a prelude to fix the ceasefire in the de-escalation zones in Syria as a prelude to any political settlement to the country's long-running conflict.
Eastern Ghouta is a sprawling terrain, largely agricultural, which was among the first areas to fall to the rebels in the early times of the over six-year conflict. Rebels in Ghouta have been responsible for the blind mortar shelling that targeted the capital on daily basis.
Several truces failed to take hold in that area, until last May when the de-escalation zones' deal went into force, which largely contributed to a sharp decrease in the attacks against the capital.
Still, the Syrian army has recently been on a wide-scale offensive to dislodge the Qatari-backed Failaq al-Rahman rebels from Ayn Tarma area in Eastern Ghouta.
Those rebels have been excluded from the deal, as they are allies with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
