Truce in Syria’s Homs province after safe zone agreed

A ceasefire between government forces and rebels goes into effect in part of central Syria on Thursday after Russia strikes a deal with the opposition on a safe zone.

The zone in northern parts of Homs province is the third to be established in Syria, which has been ravaged by six years of civil war that have left more than 300,000 people dead.

“From 1200 local time (0900 GMT), units of the moderate opposition and government forces will completely stop firing,” Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says.

Konashenkov says Moscow and Syrian opposition groups had reached an agreement on the “operational details” of a “de-escalation zone” north of third city Homs at talks in Cairo on July 31.

Moscow has been behind a push to pacify Syria since the start of this year, after tipping the conflict in favor of the regime with its game-changing military intervention in 2015.

— AFP