Syrian rebel group says cease-fire with Hezbollah over

A rare cease-fire negotiated with Hezbollah fighters in a Syrian town and two villages collapsed Saturday after several days during which guns fell silent, a rebel group involved in the talks and activists said.

Syrian state television said a child and her father had been killed and 12 others wounded in “terrorist shelling” on the regime-held villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province.

The 48-hour ceasefire between the Syrian regime and opposition forces first went into effect on Wednesday morning in three towns – two predominantly Shia towns in the Idlib province and one predominantly Sunni town in the Damascus province.

It added that both parties agreed that the government troops open a way out for the rebels inside Zabadani to withdraw to rebel-held areas in the north and in return the rebels in Idlib will allow the residents of Foa and Kafraya to evacuate their villages and head to Damascus and its countryside.

Abu Jaber al-Sheikh, spokesman of Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, confirmed that negotiations are over.

The cancellation of ceasefire came as Reuters had earlier on Friday reported the truce would be extended until Sunday. “The truce failed and the attacks have resumed”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war, said the negotiations had stopped and the sides had returned to their leaders.

Before its ended, intensive negotiations had been under way to try and prolong the agreement.

But the negotiations reportedly stumbled over an opposition insistence that thousands of prisoners be released from government jails, according to Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

Organized with assist from Iran and Turkey, which again opposing sides within the battle, the ceasefire was designed to provide an opportunity for negotiations aimed toward a extra lasting cessation of hostilities in each areas.

“The talks are ongoing, but there are breaches in the ceasefire”, he said, citing sources close to the talks.

The army and Islamist rebels exchanged artillery fire Saturday near Damascus after talks between them broke down, militant leaders and a monitor said.