Syrian Ceasefire Begins But U.S. Expecting Violations

The Guardian reports:

A fragile, temporary and partial cessation of hostilities has come into force inSyria after 97 fighting groups, as well as the Syrian government and Russian air force, signed up to a ceasefire.

A monitoring group said early on Saturday that fighting appeared to have stopped across most of western Syria, although the country’s state news agency said a car bomb had exploded on the edge of a government-held central town of Salamiyeh, killing two and wounding several others. No one claimed responsibility.

A senior Russian official said it had grounded its warplanes in Syria and established hotlines to exchange information with the US military in order to help monitor the ceasefire.

A Syrian rebel group called First Coastal Division in the country’s northwest said it came under attack from government ground forces at 4am local time (0200 GMT), leaving three fighters dead in what it called a breach of the truce.

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