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Saturday 27 Feb 2016 - 14:32 Makkah mean time-18-5-1437
 Beirut IINA) – Fighting appeared to stop across most areas of western Syria on Saturday after a landmark "cessation of hostilities" came into effect under a U.S.-Russian plan which warring sides in the five-year conflict have accepted, Reuters reported.
If the temporary halt in fighting holds, it will mark the first time world powers have been able to negotiate a pause in the civil war. Under the fragile agreement, Syria's government and its enemies are expected to cease fighting so aid can reach civilians and peace talks can resume. A monitoring group and the United Nations reported only isolated fire in western Syria after the temporary ceasefire began at midnight on Saturday. The United Nations said it expected breaches in the temporary truce and urged restraint in curbing any new outbreaks of fighting. “Let's pray that this works because frankly this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace," said U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.
Damascus and its ally Russia, as well as a range of insurgent groups fighting against them, have said they would take part in the plan. The temporary truce does not apply to ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front, and the Syrian government and Moscow have said they will not halt combat against those militants. Other rebels seen as moderates by the West say they fear this will be used to justify attacks on them. Nusra Front, one of Syria's most powerful Islamist rebel groups, on Friday urged insurgents to intensify their attacks on President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, adding to dangers facing the agreement.
Fighting raged across much of western Syria right up until the cessation came into effect, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. There was calm in many parts of the country shortly after midnight, it said. "In Damascus and its countryside ... for the first time in years, calm prevails," Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said. "In Latakia, calm, and at the Hmeimim air base there is no plane activity," he said, referring to the Latakia base where Russia's warplanes operate. Some gunfire had been heard shortly after midnight in the northern city of Aleppo, and there were some blasts heard in northern Homs province, but it was not clear what had caused them, Abdulrahman said.
The United Nations unanimously demanded late on Friday that all parties to the conflict comply with terms of the plan as part of efforts to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people and driven 11 million from their homes. De Mistura said he intends to restart peace talks on March 7, provided the halt in fighting largely holds. On Friday, at least 40 government soldiers and allied fighters and 18 insurgents were killed in battles and air strikes in Latakia province, the Observatory reported. Six people were also killed in an air raid in western Aleppo province in the hours before the halt, it said.
Near Damascus, dozens of air raids hit the besieged suburb of Daraya. Rescue workers said at least five people were killed in Douma, northeast of the capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Friday that combat actions against ISIS, the Nusra Front and other groups the Syrian government regards as terrorists would continue. The United States said it was time for Russia to show it was serious about halting fighting by honoring a commitment not to strike Syrian groups that are part of the moderate opposition.
HA/IINA
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