Rebel shellfire kills three in Damascus

Three people including a child were killed Tuesday in rebel shelling of the eastern sector of the Syrian capital Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported.

"Armed groups in Eastern Ghouta fired three mortar shells at the residential district of Zablatani, killing three people, including a child, and wounding five civilians," SANA reported, citing a police official.

The news agency said rebel fighters were to blame for the "violations" of an agreement to de-escalate Eastern Ghouta.

The rebel enclave, which has been under siege since 2013, is one of four so-called "de-escalation zones" across Syria agreed earlier this year by regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey.

But in recent weeks violence has increased considerably, with government air strikes and artillery fire across the region, and rebel fire from the area into Damascus.

The enclave east of the Syrian capital is home to around 400,000 people and humanitarian organisations have voiced fears conditions could yet get worse.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says 211 civilians, including 49 children, have been killed in the strikes on Eastern Ghouta since mid-November.

Over the same period of time, 37 people have been killed by rebel fire on other parts of the capital.

Source: AFP