In what is being hailed
as the first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war, the Russian
military has stopped air-strikes in certain parts of Syria as part of a
cessation of hostilities agreement.
The "cessation of
hostilities" began at midnight on Friday. A special taskforce chaired by
the United States and Russia will later meet in Geneva to monitor violations of
the agreement. The truce involves government and rebel forces, but not the Jihadist
militant group of ISIS or the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
U.N. Syria envoy
Staffan de Mistura said: "Let's pray that this works because frankly this
is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last
five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to
peace.” Under the U.S.-Russian accord accepted by Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad's government, fighting should be ceased so that aid can reach
civilians and talks can open to end a war that has killed more than 250,000
people and made 11 million homeless.
The U.N. Security
Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution earlier on Friday, backing
the halt in fighting and asking for all parties to abide by the terms of the
cessation.
In spite of Russia's
pledge, reports of scattered violence between militants and some rebel groups
emerged. Clashes between regime forces and rebels in Latakia, and other
incidents of violence between government forces and ISIS fighters in Aleppo
have been reported. At Latakia, 12 rebel fighters were killed in clashes
with government forces.
However, the intensity
of the violence has greatly reduced, which is a relief to Syrians living in the
rubble of bombed-out cities.
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