Russia: Ceasefire negotiated in safe zone in Syria

A ceasefire has been agreed on in another of the planned safe zones in Syria, Russia’s Defence Ministry has announced.

The ceasefire, which applies to the opposition-held area north of the city of Homs, was dur to go into effect at midday local time today, according to the ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov.

This truce will see Syrian government forces and “moderate” rebel opposition groups cease fire in the northern area of Homs province, where shelling was recently conducted by government forces.

Konashenkov said that Russia and the opposition groups had come to an agreement on the “operational details” of the safe zone during talks in Cairo, Egypt, on 31 July.

Read: Russia, US, Turkey call for safe zones in Syria

The zone will be secured by Russian military police tomorrow, who will set up two checkpoints and three observation posts along the boundaries of the zone separating the regime and opposition forces.

The Russian-led initiative for setting up safe zones, also known as de-escalation zones, began in May after Russia, Iran, and Turkey agreed to establish four of the zones throughout the war-torn country. Other truces have already gone into effect in some of the other safe zones, but this particular zone is reportedly the third to be established out of the four.

Last month, another deal was struck by Russia with the United States and Jordan for a ceasefire in a zone in the south, to which Russia’s military police has already been deployed.