Syrian truce fragile but holding overall - U.N. envoy

Syria's cessation of hostilities is holding but remains fragile after six days in which incidents have been contained in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Latakia and Damascus, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday.

"The situation is fragile, success is not guaranteed but progress is visible," de Mistura told reporters. De Mistura plans to start a round of peace talks on March 9, but the format for the indirect talks is flexible and some parties could turn up days later, he said. 

 

Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had registered 14 ceasefire violations in Syria over the past 24 hours.
 
The violations concerned the shelling of residential areas and Syrian government forces in the provinces of Damascus, Latakia, Hama and Deraa, it said.