Russian airstrikes killed 37 civilians in the Arbin area of the shrinking opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus overnight, AFP reported Friday (March 23rd)

"Russian airstrikes and incendiary weapons killed the civilians in a basement from burning or suffocation" late on Thursday before a ceasefire came into effect in the area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Russia has denied being directly involved in airstrikes on Eastern Ghouta.

The Observatory says it relies on flight patterns, aircraft involved and ammunition used to determine who carries them out.

The White Helmets, a civil defence organisation operating in opposition-held areas, said most of the dead were women and children.

The Russia-backed regime offensive on Eastern Ghouta has retaken most of the enclave and divided what remains into three shrinking pockets, each controlled by a different opposition group.

Late on Thursday, the Faylaq al-Rahman group which controls the southern pocket that includes Arbin, said a ceasefire had been agreed from midnight to allow negotiations with Russia for an evacuation deal.

Under a similar agreement reached by the Ahrar al-Sham group, hundreds of fighters and their family members were evacuated from the town of Harasta earlier on Thursday. Another batch of evacuations from Harasta began on Friday.