Two more Syrian settlements join the nationwide ceasefire: Russian reconciliation center

(TASS) Two more Syrian settlements have joined the ceasefire in the past 24 hours, the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria said in its regular daily bulletin posted on the Russian defense ministry’s official website on Monday.

“During the day, agreements on joining the regime of cessation of hostilities were signed with two settlements in the province of Latakia, Kharf Radui and Beytrikhan. The number of populated localities that have joined the reconciliation process has reached 1, 097,” the center said. “Talks on joining the regime of cessation of hostilities were continued with field commanders of armed opposition groups in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and al-Quneitra.”

However, a number of ceasefire violations were reported during the day.

“Russian officers of the Russian-Turkish joint commission set up to monitor ceasefire violations in Syria reported 14 violations, including eight – in the province of Hama, two – in the province of Latakia, two – in the province of Damascus, and two – in the province of Aleppo.

Turkish officers reported 17 ceasefire violations, including four – in the province of Damascus, five – in the province of Aleppo, one – in the province of Daraa, one – in the province of Latakia, five – in the province of Hama, and one – in the province of Homs.

The established facts of ceasefire violations are being investigated and steps are being taken to prevent such cases in the future,” the center said.

Apart from that, efforts to ease the humanitarian situation in Aleppo were continued. Thus, a total of 11.3 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes were delivered to a number of the city’s districts in eight humanitarian operations.

The nationwide ceasefire came into force across Syria at midnight on December 30, 2016 under the agreement on a complex solution to the Syria crisis.

Some armed opposition groups agreed to the ceasefire. Russia and Turkey act as the ceasefire guarantors. Ceasefire is not applicable to terrorist groups, such as Islamic State.

The Russian Defense Ministry declared the establishment of the reconciliation center on February 23. It is headquartered at the Hmeimim air base, Latakia province.

The center was set up in line with agreements reached by Russia and the United States to facilitate the negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition and to organize humanitarian deliveries.