Russian airstrikes kill two rebel commanders in Eastern Ghouta

Russian airstrikes killed 12 members of the Failaq al-Rahman rebel group in Eastern Ghouta on Wednesday, including two senior commanders, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The two commanders were named as Abu Mohammad Saif and Abu Mohammed Jobar, the war monitor said, with activist reports claiming the airstrikes were carried out by Russia.

The rebel group's spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Since the escalation of the Russian-backed Syrian regime military offensive against Eastern Ghouta on 18 February, over 1,031 civilians have been reported killed, including 219 children. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu will discuss the situation in Syria's Eastern Ghouta at a meeting on Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported.

Last week, Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said Iran, Russia and Turkey would send foreign ministers to Kazakhstan to move forward a plan to end the seven-year Syrian civil war.

The top diplomats of regime allies Moscow and Tehran and rebel-backer Turkey will hold a 16 March meeting in the capital Astana "without observers or Syrian sides."

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The United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura would also be invited to the meeting. 

Talks on Syria in Astana, which have usually involved regime and opposition delegations, as well as the three guarantors, began in January 2017. 

They run parallel to UN-led negotiations in Geneva and were credited with bringing about a reduction in hostilities between regime and rebel forces after the agreement on the safe zones was reached.