BEIRUT:

A ceasefire in northwest Syria reduced violence in the rebel bastion, a monitor said, with no air strikes on Friday after a three-month-long army offensive killed hundreds while yielding no big territorial gains.

Though the combatants exchanged fire on Friday, a rebel commander and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were no government or Russian air raids.

More than 400 civilians have been killed in the escalation since late April and more than 440,000 uprooted, the United Nations said last week. (RTRS)