Five-hour truce begins in Syria's Eastern Ghouta

A five-hour Russia-proposed truce came into effect on Tuesday in Syria's rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

The truce came into effect at 9 a.m., and is expected to continue until 2 p.m. in the conflict-torn area, reports Xinhua news agency.

The truce will take place every day within the same period of time to allow evacuation of civilians from the rebel-held zone.

The location of the humanitarian corridor was set to be the Wafidin crossing, the only crossing between Damascus and Eastern Ghouta.

Local media said the crossing has been prepared with ambulances and buses to transport the



civilians who will leave for safer places.

It's not yet clear if the rebels will allow the civilians to leave Eastern Ghouta, as Muhammad Alloush, the political chief of Islam Army, said a day earlier that only the wounded will leave, not the regular civilians.

State-run al-Ekhbaraia TV said the rebels fired at an area near the crossing on Tuesday morning to prevent the civilians from leaving.

The humanitarian truce comes just days after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2401, which requires all parties in Syria to immediately cease clashes and provide a sustained humanitarian break for at least 30 days.