Hezbollah, Assad regime shell besieged Madaya near Damascus

Video footage published by Qasioun News Agency showed smoke rising from residential buildings. A commentator in the video said the area was hit with artillery shelling from Hezbollah positions in Qalet al-Tal. 

People in Madaya live in dire conditions. They suffer acute shortages of food and medicine due to the suffocating siege imposed by Iran-backed militias and Assad regime. 

Last month, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the targeting of the last medical point in the town which put it out service. 

A countrywide ceasefire in Syria was declared on Thursday (29 December 2016), after Turkey, Russia and opposition fighting groups reached a deal in the Turkish capital Ankara. According to the deal, Turkey and Russia would act as guarantor countries for the implementation of the ceasefire.