Syrian regime extends unilateral ceasefire by one day

ANKARA

The Syrian regime on Friday announced the extension of a unilateral ceasefire in three of the country’s southern provinces -- that first went into effect earlier this week -- until midnight Saturday.

“The cessation of hostilities in the Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda provinces will remain in effect until midnight of July 8,” according to a Defense Ministry statement.

On Monday, the regime unilaterally announced that it would refrain from engaging in any military activity in the three provinces for a four-day period.

During May talks in Kazakh capital Astana, Turkey (which supports the Syrian opposition) agreed with Russia and Iran (which support the Assad regime) on a plan to establish a network of “de-escalation zones” in different regions of war-torn Syria.

According to the agreement, the zones -- in which acts of aggression are nominally prohibited -- would cover the city of Idlib and certain parts of the Latakia, Homs, Aleppo and Hama provinces, along with Damascus, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and Quneitra.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since March 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

While UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict to date, Syrian regime officials say the total death toll is closer to 10,000.