Russia registers 9 truce violations in Syria in past 24 hours

A Russian ceasefire monitoring center in Syria says it has registered at least nine truce violations in Syria over the past 24 hours.

Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, the head of Russian coordination center in Syria, said the violations included shelling in the northern province of Latakia.

However, Kuralenko noted that the cessation of hostilities agreed as part of a US-Russian plan was holding "in general."

Russia recently opened the coordination center at its Hmeymim airbase in Latakia in an attempt to facilitate talks and the implementation of a monitoring ceasefire mechanism between Damascus and different opposing parties. 

Meanwhile, Rodi Osman, the head of the Syrian Kurdish mission to Moscow, has also said that Turkish forces have once again fired shells into Syrian towns controlled by Kurdish forces, violating a ceasefire that has recently come into effect in the Arab country. He added that Turkey must be urged to stop "violating Syria's sovereignty."

Sergey Rudskoy, the chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, announced at a recent briefing that at least seventy Russian surveillance drones will be monitoring the ceasefire across the Arab country.

Rudskoy added that hotlines have been established to ensure the quick exchange of information between the Russian ceasefire coordinating center in Syria and the US one in neighboring Jordan.

A ceasefire agreed by the United States and Russia took effect in Syria on February 27 midnight Damascus time. The Syrian government also accepted the terms of the truce on condition that military efforts against Daesh and the al-Nusra Front Takfiri militants, who are not included in the ceasefire agreement, continue.

According to a statement by Syrian Foreign Ministry, the country's military, however, reserves the right to "respond to any breach by these groups against Syrian citizens or against its armed forces."

The ceasefire agreement in Syria has revived hopes that the truce would lead to an end of nearly five years of war in the country.

Also on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the fight against terrorism should be conducted through joint international efforts, and that double standards, selfish ambitions, and disputes need to be set aside.

Lavrov said terrorism can only be confronted through the joint efforts of the international community.

The top Russian diplomat called on the United Nations to play the role of a central coordinator in the anti-terror efforts.

Lavrov added that it’s necessary to put aside disagreements, ambitions, and preconditions, and get united in order to defeat the Daesh terrorists whom he said have challenged human civilization.

Over the past few weeks, Syrian government forces have managed to retake major positions from the foreign-backed militants in Syria.

Nearly five years of deadly turmoil have left more than 470,000 people dead and millions displaced, according to some reports.

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