BEIRUT, May 2. /TASS/. Terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra group and their allies from oppositional armed formations do not stop shelling the residential neighborhoods of the Syrian city of Aleppo 360 kilometers from Damascus, with six people killed over the past day and over 40 wounded, media reported.
Militant fire was aimed at quarters under the protection of the Syrian army again, the SANA agency reported.
The Syrian Armed Forces command extended until May 2 the ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta area, where the main forces of the Jaysh al-Islam - the largest faction of armed opposition near Damascus - are deployed. All military operations were simultaneously stopped in the north of the Latakia Governorate. The "regime of silence" there is valid until May 3.
The Syrian army command underscored that it is trying to strengthen the general truce in Syria, in effect since late February.
"The regime of silence is called upon to bar the way for certain terrorist groups and those who stand behind them to continuation of provocations and creation of an atmosphere of instability. This will deprive them of a pretext for attacks on the civilian population," the communique said.
One of the largest formations of Syrian armed opposition, Jaysh al-Islam, acts in the Eastern Ghouta area. Its militants regularly open fire from rocket launchers on civilian quarters of the Syrian capital and its suburbs. Jaysh al-Islam is also involved in repeated shelling of the Russian embassy’s area in Damascus.
The conflict in Syria has lasted since March 2011. Earlier in April, the United Nations secretary general’s special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said the hostilities in the country have left 400,000 people dead. Later he specified that it was his personal assessment. Up until now, the UN has named the death count of over 250,000 in Syria.