Opposition Group and Syrian Government Exchange Prisoners in East Damascus

The Syrian opposition group Jaish al-Islam and the Syrian government exchanged prisoners near Damascus on Tuesday, August 8, as part of a new ceasefire agreement.The Syrian government released three members of Jaish al-Islam in exchange for six government prisoners held by the group. The parties met between the cities of Douma and Adra in the eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus. The exchange comes as a part of a deescalation agreement.On its website, Jaish al-Islam named the three released prisoners and said that one had been captured in eastern Damascus at the beginning of the civil war, another was captured by Hezbollah in fighting near Aleppo, and the third was captured in eastern Damascus in 2014.Despite the ceasefire agreement, local news organizations and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have reported government airstrikes on the region as recently as August 9. Credit: YouTube/SMART News Agency via Storyful