Syria: Temporary Syria truce begins
The proposed “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, announced jointly earlier this week by Russia and the United States, went into effect at midnight Friday in Damascus (5 p.m. ET).
U.N. Special Envoy Staffan De Mistura said at a press briefing in Geneva that immediate reports indicated “suddenly both Daraa and Damascus had calmed down.”
An unusual quiet descended on major cities in Syria, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding there were brief exceptions including some unexplained explosions reported in the north.
Nobody expects peace to settle over the nation overnight, De Mistura said.