Fighting reported across Syria despite a 3-day truce

The Syrian government earlier declared a three-day ceasefire across the whole of the country, although fighting continued and until now there had been no indication that it had been agreed with any of the myriad groups opposing the government.

On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, Assad traveled to Syria’s third largest city, Homs, for the holiday morning prayers.

The army announced on Wednesday that it was observing a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The last truce – a high-profile “cessation of hostilities” brokered by the U.S. and Russian Federation – was declared on February 27 and excluded militant groups such as the Islamic State and al Qaida’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front.

Pro-government forces are pressing on with their ground offensive on Mayda, in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, which they launched on Tuesday, Mr al-Tayeb said.

The development came shortly after Syrian government forces, backed by allied fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, established control over the village of Maydaa, which is administratively part of the Douma district and lies east of the capital, Damascus.

“The opposition groups are engaged in fierce battles in their attempt to take back Ketlet al-Jamae because it is an important area for them”, observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman said.

President Assad’s army announced the truce in a statement on Wednesday but did not say whether it extended to action against jihadist groups such as ISIS or al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front.

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that forces loyal to Bashar Assad regained area from opposition forces in northern Aleppo province and were coming close to a strategic road Thursday just a day after the cease-fire began.

The open-ended February “cessation of hostilities” truce, which was meant to smooth talks to end the war, was agreed with many opposition militias, but did not include the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front or Islamic State. “The regime has made this announcement purely to escape worldwide pressure”, Islam Alloush, a spokesperson for Jaish al Islam, told Al Jazeera.

The state run news agency reported that rebels shelled a government neighbourhood of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing three people, while the anti-government Aleppo Media Center reported that at least two people were killed in government airstrikes and shelling on rebel-held neighbourhoods of the contested city.

Residents walk near damaged buildings in the rebel held area of Old Aleppo, Syria May 5, 2016.