Sunday the ‘calmest’ in Syria since cease-fire

Regions of Syria covered by a UN-brokered cease-fire Sunday enjoyed the “calmest day” since the truce started, a monitor says, as Moscow and Washington cautioned against any delay in resuming peace talks.

“Sunday was the calmest day since the cease-fire came into effect” on February 27, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, tells AFP.

He says the exceptions were dozens of rockets fired by al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group excluded from the truce, and other rebel factions at Kurdish forces in the far north of the city of Aleppo.

The violence killed at least nine people, the Observatory says in an updated toll, based on reports that it receives from a wide network of sources on the ground.

Heavy bombardment also struck territory held by al-Nusra and the Islamic State group, another jihadist faction not covered by the truce.

Abdel Rahman says the average number of civilian deaths a day has fallen by 90 percent since the cease-fire came into force nine days ago, with an 80% decline among soldiers and rebel forces.

— AFP