SYRIA TRUCE BROKERED BY US, RUSSIA AND JORDAN HOLDING

BEIRUT: A ceasefire brokered by the US, Russia and Jordan brought quiet on Sunday to frontlines in southern Syria ahead of fresh UN-sponsored peace talks on the country’s six-year conflict.

A monitor said clashes and shelling had halted in the three southern provinces covered by the truce, Daraa, Quneitra, and Sweida, as it went into effect at noon local time. The ceasefire deal was announced on Friday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and comes as Syrian government and opposition delegations start a new round of talks in Geneva from today.

“The main fronts in the three provinces between regime forces and opposition factions have seen a cessation of hostilities and shelling since this morning, with the exception of a few scattered shells fired on Daraa city before noon,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The Syrian regime had announced its own unilateral ceasefire tomorrow but fighting had continued on frontlines in the three provinces. The truce came after regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey agreed on four “de-escalation” zones in Syria.