10 July,2017 09:53 AM IST | Beirut | Agencies
US-Russian brokered ceasefire for southwest Syria was holding hours after it took effect on Sunday, a monitor and two rebel officials said, in the latest international attempt at peace-making in the six-year war
Members of Syrian pro-government holding a security checkpoint near the village of Hanna Safar, on the outskirts of Raqa. Pic/AFP
US-Russian brokered ceasefire for southwest Syria was holding hours after it took effect on Sunday, a monitor and two rebel officials said, in the latest international attempt at peace-making in the six-year war.
The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a ceasefire and "de-escalation agreement" this week with the aim of paving the way for a broader, more robust truce. The announcement came after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit of major economies in Germany.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said "calm was prevailing" with no air strikes or clashes in the southwest since the truce began at noon on Sunday. "The situation is relatively calm," said Suhaib al-Ruhail, a spokesman for the Alwiyat al-Furqan rebel group in the Quneitra area.
