DAMASCUS - Heavy black smoke bellowed the eastern countryside of Syria's capital Damascus on Friday, in what appeared to be airstrikes pounding rebel positions, just hours ahead of the implementation of a planned ceasefire, activists said.
At least 25 air strikes, believed to be Russian, targeted Damascus' eastern town of Douma, a main rebel bastion, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The UK-based watchdog group said the air strikes were coupled with shelling from the Syrian ground troops. It added that the shelling and air raids have left wide-scale destruction in Douma, a bastion for the rebels' Islam Army, which presumably included in the truce, as it's not designated as a terrorist group by the UN.
Meanwhile, witnesses, who live near the eastern countryside of Damascus, told Xinhua that the shelling was so intense and consecutive. They added that the cloud was so thick.
"People are afraid because the sounds are close and strong," one witness, who lives in Damascus' eastern district of Tijara said, as his house overlooks areas close Douma.
Another witness, who lives in the Abassyien district, also spoke of the heavy shelling sounds and the cloud of dust that covered parts of that area.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said the aerial bombing was not only confined to the capital, as strikes have been reported Friday in the countryside of the central provinces of Homs and Hama, as well as the northern countryside of the coastal province of Latakia.(Xinhua)