Syrian rebel groups 'agree to Damascus truce' in Cairo

Three Syrian opposition factions reached a ceasefire deal on Thursday for a southern part of Damascus that has been the scene of recent violence, Egypt's state media and a representative of a Syrian rebel group said.

"We announced a preliminary agreement over the will to enter into a ceasefire and de-escalation deal for the area," Mohammed Alloush of the rebel group Jaish al-Islam said in televised comments.

The state-run MENA news agency said the deal was reached under Egyptian and Russian auspices.

It added that the deal was signed at the intelligence's headquarters in Cairo and went into effect at noon.

Alloush told AP by telephone that the three parties to the deal are Army of Islam, Jaysh al-Ababil and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, which is linked to the Palestinian Hamas group.

He said the deal would also open humanitarian access and prevent displacing its residents inside Syria.

Rebel groups hold a small area south of Damascus, bordered to the west by the Islamic State group and surrounded from the other sides by the Syrian regime.