15 killed on 1st day of Syria deal: UK-based watchdog

At least 15 people were killed in Syria on the first day of a cessation-of-hostilities agreement between the Assad regime and opposition forces, a UK-based monitoring group has said.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said it had documented 14 violations by regime forces on the first day of the deal.

Fifteen people were killed, including 13 opposition fighters, on the day after the agreement came into effect, the watchdog said.

According to the SNHR, regime forces backed by Russian warplanes stepped up attacks in the northern Aleppo province ahead of the truce, which came into force at midnight Friday local time.

It went on to urge the US and Russia, both of which helped broker the agreement, to investigate reported agreement breaches.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.