Deeskaltions-Deal in Südsyrien tritt in Kraft
A ceasefire in southwest Syria, declared by the US and Russia in their first “de-escalation” deal in the conflict, began without violence on Sunday.
The arrangement, which also includes Jordan, was announced as Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany on Friday.
While sceptical of the deal and assuring that they were not part of it, the Southern Front rebel bloc said that the ceasefire was holding with “a cautious calm” continued into the evening.
“The situation is relatively calm,” said Suhaib al-Ruhail, a spokesman for the Alwiyat al-Furqan faction in Quneitra Province, covered by the truce that began at noon local time.
A rebel official in Daraa city, on the Jordanian border, said there had been no significant clashes. The halt in violence included the strategic area of Manshiya, most of which was taken and held by rebels this spring despite almost 2,000 bombs, missiles, and “elephant” rockets fired by pro-Assad forces.
But activists and pro-opposition media reported a series of violations by pro-Assad forces, with shelling and fire from heavy machine guns on towns and villages in both Quneitra and Daraa Provinces.