Nationwide ceasefire to begin in Syria on Friday
December 29, 2016, 2:24 pm

The Syrian army recaptured Aleppo two weeks ago, leading to significant gains against opposition and Islamist forces [Xinhua]

The Syrian government and rebel forces, excluding the Islamic State and Al Nusra Front, have agreed to the ceasefire, the Damascus-based SANA news agency reported on Thursday.

Both Islamic State and Al Nusra front forces will continue to be targeted by Russian and Syrian forces.

The state-run agency reported that both Russia and Turkey will work for the ceasefire to come into force at midnight on Friday, however, at press time, news of the ceasefire is yet to surface.

Neither country’s foreign ministry has commented on the matter. But Russian President Vladimir Putin said the ceasefire would take effect as he announced Moscow would begin scaling down its forces in Syria.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Syrian government was consulting with the opposition ahead of potential peace talks.

Lavrov did not specify which members of the opposition were included in the talks, but Moscow has revealed that they would take place in Kazakhstan.

“During the recent meeting in Moscow with my colleagues from Iran and Turkey we approved a joint declaration in which we confirmed our readiness to guarantee a future agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition,” Lavrov told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the newly-formed Syrian Democratic Front, Mahmoud Marai, told Russian media that the opposition is ready to take part in the peace talks.

The group was announced on December 26 and is said to include five opposition factions.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies