UN-brokered Syria peace talks are set to restart in Geneva on Thursday (February 23rd) after a 10-month hiatus, AFP reported Tuesday.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has moderated three failed previous rounds of talks and said he was not "deluded" about the prospects for a deal this time.

But "it is time to try again", he said at a weekend security conference in Munich.

De Mistura said the agenda remains consistent with the last round, meaning rivals will discuss governance, drafting a new constitution and organising UN-monitored elections, in keeping with the framework laid out by the Security Council in 2015.

De Mistura's office has not yet clarified the make-up of the opposition camp and has not set an end date for the round.

Meanwhile, the UN on Monday expressed alarm over escalating fighting in the Damascus area.

UN officials have received reports of civilian deaths and injuries from regime shelling in Qabun, Barzeh, Tishreen and Harasta districts of the city, said UN spokesman Farhan Haq, expressing alarm at the intensification of the fighting.