Fresh peace talks aimed at resolving the Syrian conflict have begun in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

The talks are brokered by Russia and Iran, which back the Syrian government, and Turkey which supports the rebels.

For the first time, the opposition delegation has been formed exclusively of representatives of armed groups.

Organisers have played down expectations of a breakthrough, and rebels say there will be no direct negotiations with the government.

The last round of talks between the opposition and the government, which were brokered by the UN, were suspended in early 2016.

Jihadists such as so-called Islamic State (IS) are excluded. Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry says it expects the talks to be finished by Tuesday.

More than 300,000 people have been killed and 11 million displaced in almost six years of conflict.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura is attending the talks, and the US is being represented by its ambassador to Kazakhstan.

• What next for Syria?
• Returning to ruins of East Aleppo

The new equation, by BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, in Astana

“Everything has changed since Aleppo,” says a Western diplomat who has been engaged on Syria for the past several years. “There’s a new equation.”

The opposition’s stinging defeat in the northern city of Aleppo in December robbed them of their last major urban stronghold to challenge President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

And there was another game-changer. Behind the scenes, in the Turkish capital Ankara, a new Russian-Turkish alliance forged a deal to end the final fight for Syria’s second city.

Now two unlikely allies, who have always backed different sides in this war, are hoping to redraw Syria’s geo-political map.

Read Lyse’s piece in full

Bashar al-Jaafari, who heads the Syrian government delegation, said earlier that the agenda would focus on strengthening a ceasefire that has largely held since last month.

“This would be a test of the credibility and seriousness of the participants, whether those who will be sitting at the discussion table or their operators,” he said, quoted by state media.

Russia and Turkey brokered the ceasefire on 30 December. It excludes IS and the rival jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, known as al-Nusra Front until it broke off formal ties with al-Qaeda in July.

An opposition spokesman told the BBC at the start of the talks that both sides would discuss – though indirectly – the ceasefire, humanitarian aid and prisoners.

Last week, a leader of the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam, Mohammed Alloush, said he would go to Astana to end the “crimes” of the government and its allies.

The main umbrella group representing Syria’s political and armed opposition factions, the High Negotiations Committee, says it considers the Astana talks a “preliminary step for the next round” of negotiations on a political settlement in Geneva.

The Syrian conflict began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war.