9 breaches of Cessation of Hostilities agreement by armed terrorist groups during last 24 hours

Lattakia – The armed terrorist groups breached the Cessation of Hostilities agreement in Syria 9 times during the past 24 hours, putting the number of breaches since February 27 at 444, according to the Russian Coordination Center in Hmeimim, SANA reported.

The agreement, which came into effect on 27 February, does not include Jabhat al-Nusra, ISIS terrorist organizations and other groups listed by the UN as terrorist organizations.

 The Russian center said in a statement, published on the website of the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday that it observed 9 breaches of the agreement, 4 in Damascus countryside, 4 in Lattakia countryside and one in Aleppo.

It added that gunmen of the so called Ahrar al- Sham shelled 4 towns in Lattakia countryside with mortar and rocket shells, while the so called Jaish al- Islam shelled military posts in 3 towns in Damascus countryside and a military hospital in Harasta to the east of Damascus.

The so called Ahrar al-Sham organization tried to move forward towards Syrian army positions to the south of Aleppo but the army forced it to withdraw, the Russian center said, pointing out that the Russian air force did not target positions for groups which joined the cessation of hostilities agreement.

Meanwhile, Turkish artillery targeted Syrian army positions from the vicinity of the Turkish village of Aluichak, according to the Russian center.

On the other hand, the number of towns that joined the Cessation of Hostilities agreement raised to 72, while the number of the armed groups that announced their commitment to the agreement raised to 52, The Russian center affirmed, indicating that an agreement has been reached with field leaders of armed groups in Damascus to join about 500 persons to the cessation of hostilities agreement.