US, Russia agree on extending Syria ceasefire to include Aleppo
The United States and Russia have agreed on trying to cooperate with parties on the ground in Syria to extend a ceasefire to include Aleppo, which has been a flash point over the past few weeks, the US Department of State said.
Mark Toner, US Department of State spokesman said Wednesday, "Since this went into effect today at 00:01 in Damascus, we have seen an overall decrease in violence in these areas."
The US official said the decrease in violence occurred "even though there have been reports of continued fighting in some locations."
Toner also urged Russia to "redouble its efforts to influence" the Syrian government to "abide fully" by the truce, adding, "The United States will do its part with the opposition."
The deal on Aleppo was reportedly reached late on Tuesday.
The nationwide ceasefire in Syria was brokered by Washington and Moscow in late February. However, the truce has been shaky.
On Wednesday, various sources gave conflicting figures of the number of casualties from both sides of recent clashes in the city.
The latest round of fighting began early on Tuesday and was still going on in western Aleppo before the latest agreement was reached by US and Russia. A rocket fired by the militants killed three civilians and wounded another in a government-held area in Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported.
Aleppo has been divided between government forces in the west and militants in the east since 2012, a year after the conflict broke out in Syria.
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