Russia calls for 3-day ‘regime of calm’ near Syria capital

Russia has called for a three-day regime of silence in some conflict zones near the Syrian capital Damascus, calling on the US to push militants under its influence to join the truce.

“In order to stabilize the situation the Russian reconciliation center is calling for a 72-hour regime of silence in Eastern Ghouta and Daraya” starting from Tuesday, said head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria Sergei Kuralenko. 

Kuralenko, who was cited by Russian Defense Ministry, also reiterated Moscow’s calls for militants to withdraw from areas controlled by the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra group.

He said information from Russian monitors and Syrian intelligence shows that al-Nusra has gathered a force of some 6,000 militants in preparation for an offensive in the Aleppo province.

“These conclusions and estimates have been confirmed by non-stop fire on Syrian armed forces in Eastern Ghouta and living quarters in Damascus,” he said.

This came as the Syrian army made fresh gains against terrorists in Ghouta on Friday and managed to retake 13 villages from al-Nusra Front elements.

The Syrian Air Force also destroyed positions held by Takfiri Daesh terrorists in al-Shaer field and Um al-Tababeer area in the central Homs Province.

A ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect on February 27 in Syria, but it does not apply to Daesh and al-Nusra Front.

The Syrian army has vowed to press ahead with its counter-terror military operations and drive terrorists out of their major positions.

Kuralenko further said that Moscow has called on Washington “to continue [to] work with moderate opposition units it controls to push them towards joining the ceasefire regime.”

He said Moscow has asked Washington to provide an exact outline of the areas the militants control and pull “groups that observe the ceasefire terms out of territories taken by” Nusra Front.

The Defense Ministry said Russian warplanes will continue strikes against al-Nusra militants.

Since September 30, 2015, Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Syrian government’s request.

The strikes have killed hundreds of Daesh terrorists and other foreign-backed militants and inflicted heavy material damage on them.

The US and its allies have also been carrying out airstrikes in Syria purportedly against Daesh positions since September 2014.

The Syrian government has said the airstrikes had targeted the country's infrastructure in many instances and done little to stop the advances of terrorists.

According to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since March 2011.

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