Russian officers registered 13 violations of the nationwide ceasefire in Syria in the past 24 hours, whereas Turkish counterparts report about 19, the Russian center for reconciliation of warring sides in Syria said on Saturday in a daily news bulletin.
“Russia’s representation of the Russian-Turkish joint commission, set up to look into breaches of the nationwide ceasefire agreement, registered 13 violations in the regions of Damascus (4), Daraa (1), Latakia (4), and Hama (4),” the bulletin said.
Turkey reported about 19 breaches of the ceasefire in the regions of Hama (8), Damascus (6), Aleppo (3), Homs (1), and Idlib (1).
“An investigation into the violations found out that in one episode the shelling was targeting Jabhat al-Nusra units (banned in Russia). As for other cases, Russian representation cannot confirm these violations,” the reconciliation center said.
Apart from that, Syrian government forces recaptured two populated localities from Islamic State over the past 24 hours. Also, the Syrian army regained control over 26.2 square kilometers. Overall, 3,426.1 square kilometers have been liberated from terrorists.
The nationwide ceasefire came into force on 30 December 2016 in line with the truce deal sealed in an effort to find a complex solution to the Syria crisis. Syrian government forces and groups of armed opposition with an overall strength of more than 60,000 have agreed to the ceasefire. Russia and Turkey act as its guarantors. Ceasefire does not cover terrorist groups, such as Islamic State.
The Russian Defense Ministry declared the establishment of the reconciliation center on 23 February 2016. It is headquartered at the Hmeimim air base, Latakia province. The center was set up in line with agreements reached by Russia and the United States to facilitate the negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition and to organize humanitarian deliveries.