UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday that cessation of hostilities in the war-torn country was largely holding, noting that violations were reported by armed groups.
Syria’s cessation of hostilities is largely holding but there are some exceptions and humanitarian aid is still not getting in to besieged areas where food is running out, de Mistura was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
He told reporters that 23 buses and Syrian drivers, used in recent evacuations, were being stopped from leaving the villages of Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province by armed groups, and fighting was continuing in two villages in the Wadi Barada valley, the site of water pumping facilities serving Damascus.
De Mistura said he understood that the UN would be invited for talks in Astana on Jan. 23, aimed at deepening the cessation of hostilities and forming some broad political ideas, but there had been no formal invitations or confirmed dates.
Source: Reuters
