MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. The regime of cessation of hostilities has been observed in most Syrian governorates, with 10 violations registered in the governorate of Latakia over the past 24 hours, the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring sides in Syria said in a news bulletin Tuesday.
"Militants of the Ahrar ash-Sham group, which ranks itself among the opposition, shelled from mortars the positions of the government troops units in the area of the inhabited localities of Kara-Jagez and Shmaisa," the bulletin said.
"Mortar fire was thrice opened on the villages of Kermel and Akch-Baer, and twice on Ard-el-Wata," the document posted on the Russian Defense Ministry website said. The regime of silence was not violated in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.
The report said Russia’s Aerospace Forces have not delivered strikes at opposition armed formations that announced cessation of hostilities and reported to the Russian or American reconciliation centers the data on their location.
Syrian conflict
The conflict in Syria has lasted since March 2011. Earlier in April, 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.
The ceasefire regime took effect in Syria on February 27. Shortly before, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution supporting a cessation of hostilities. The document drafted by Russia and the United States was backed by all 15 Security Council member states.
The ceasefire regime does not cover the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations as well as other groups ruled terrorist by the Security Council.
Russia takes an active part in the Syrian settlement effort. It helps Syria's authorities fight terrorists and has conducted mine clearing work in the ancient city of Palmyra.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
On March 14, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to start, from March 15, withdrawing the main part of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ group from Syria. Putin said the tasks set before the military "have been fulfilled on the whole." Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said strikes on terrorists will continue to be delivered.