Jihadists raise their own banner in truce suburb

BEIRUT: Three days after rebels and the Syrian army agreed a truce at Babila near Damascus, jihadists said they rejected the deal and hauled down and trampled on Syria’s flag Thursday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) “announced its rejection of any armistice” with the authorities.

Video footage showed ISIS members tearing down regime flags hoisted above the Babila municipality building during the truce and replacing them with the jihadists’ black banner.

They then trampled on and set fire to the Syrian flag. The army and rebels Monday agreed a truce in the capital’s southern suburb, the latest in a series of cease-fires in Damascus flashpoints.