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Syria ceasefire begins, Damascus says will last 7 days

The Russian and US-brokered nationwide ceasefire in Syria has come into effect, beginning at 7pm Damascus time (16:00 GMT). The Russian Defense Ministry says Moscow will continue airstrikes targeting terrorists.

The Russian Defense Ministry says that airstrikes against terrorist groups such as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front will go ahead, since they are not part of the brokered agreement.

Moscow also says that the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria has established special monitoring groups in all Syrian provinces to observe the cessation of hostilities.

According to Moscow, a joint US-Russian Coordination Center will be established to decide on airstrikes conducted by US-led coalition planes and the Russian Air Force. 

The creation of the center was earlier announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry in Geneva last Friday.

The start time of the truce was confirmed by Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff.

In accordance with these agreements, the cessation of hostilities on the entire territory of the Syria Arab Republic resumes today, starting at 7pm Moscow time. The Russian side has completed all the necessary preparations for its [ceasefire] compliance,” Rudskoy said.

He added that Russia has “all the necessary capabilities” for monitoring the ceasefire situation in Syria. The respective information on the state of the agreement would be provided to reporters for “objective coverage of the real situation.”

Rudskoy went on to say that contact between the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria and the US monitoring group in Amman, Jordan, should be reinstated.

The Defense Ministry has urged one of the key opposition groups, the Free Syrian Army, to stop military action against Kurdish units in order to aid the ceasefire. The Kurdish forces are seen as one of the most effective powers on the ground fighting terrorists.

Syria’s main opposition groups are set to issue their backing for the ceasefire and confirmation of its start, Reuters reports.

"In the next few hours there will be a statement where we state that, but there will be a lot of harsh reservations and observations regarding the whole package. But as a final takeaway, we do agree," the outlet cites its source within the Syrian opposition as saying earlier on Monday.

Following the negotiations between Lavrov and Kerry, Washington urged the opposition forces it has been backing to stick to the deal announced in Geneva last Friday.

With airstrikes against the terrorists set to continue, Russia has still not received information from the US on the exact locations of Al-Nusra Front militants, said the chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, Lieutenant General Vladimir Savchenko.

I want to stress that the fact that the US has still not provided information allowing the identification of the exact operational places of Jebhat al-Nusra in the combat areas is hampering the fruitful joint work on the cessation of hostilities.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on state TV on Monday that he is determined to drive out terrorists from all the territories they have seized. “The Syrian state is determined to recover every area from the terrorists,” he said.

The Syrian government has also given its “strict consent” for observation of the ceasefire, the Russian Reconciliation Center reported. 

The 48-hour truce is crucial for delivering aid to the civilian population, especially in Aleppo.

"Key tasks for the reconciliation center in the period of introduction of the ceasefire regime are to ensure humanitarian deliveries, first of all to western and eastern districts of the city of Aleppo,” Savchenko said. He also urged better cooperation on the issue with the UN and other international organizations.

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