Syrian government workers have entered a formerly rebel-held area near Damascus to begin restoring water to the capital after weeks of shortages, state media reported.
The engineers had entered the facilities at Ain al-Fija in the opposition-held Wadi Barada area by agreement with the rebels, the governor said on Ikhbariya channel on Friday.
"We have halted military operations in Ain al-Fijeh and started reconciliation with the militas there," said provincial governor Alaa Ibrahim, speaking to reporters from an area near the spring.
"God willing, the pipe will be fixed within three days... rapid measures will be taken to get water to Damascus tomorrow," he also stated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, confirmed that repair crews had reached the Ain al-Fijeh spring and that the Syrian flag had been raised in the area.
The reported deal comes after weeks of fighting in the region, 15 kilometres northwest of Damascus, which has threatened a fragile truce in place since December 30.
The fighting has damaged water infrastructure and left some 5.5 million people in the capital and its suburbs facing water shortages, according to the United Nations.
Earlier on Friday, the army had advanced in Wadi Barada, taking the village of Baseema under heavy fire, the Observatory stated.
Government forces have battled rebels in Wadi Barada for weeks, and President Bashar al-Assad personally pledged that the area would be recaptured.
Fighting has continued in Wadi Barada despite the start of a truce brokered by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey in late December.
Peace talks
The ceasefire is intended to pave the way for new peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, which Russia confirmed on Wednesday were scheduled for January 23.
"At this time there is no indication that the meeting will be postponed. The date of January 23 is set," a source in the foreign ministry stated.
He added that work was under way to compile a list of participants.
A Russian diplomatic source said on Wednesday that the talks would be held between the government and rebels only, with the political opposition excluded for the first time.
But Turkey and the rebels have warned that the ongoing fighting in Wadi Barada could jeopardise the talks in Astana.
And while the truce has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, sporadic violence has continued elsewhere.
Syria's conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in March 2011, but it has since morphed into a full-scale civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced more than half of the country's prewar population.
Aljazeera