Hours after truce begins, car-bomb kills 2 in Syria's Hama

ISTANBUL

Two people were killed and another four injured on Saturday morning when a bomb-laden vehicle blew up in Syria’s central-western Hama province, according to the country’s official news agency SANA.

The blast occurred in the city of Salamyieh in Hama’s eastern countryside only hours after a cessation-of-hostilities agreement came into effect midnight Friday (local time).

Earlier this week, the cessation-of-hostilities deal was announced by both Washington and Moscow.

Daesh and Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the Nusra Front, along with other unspecified groups designated terrorist organizations by the UN Security Council, are not included in the agreement.

The deal is the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts ostensibly aimed at ending the conflict, which will soon enter its sixth year.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special envoy for Syria, said Friday that -- if the truce holds -- he hoped to see peace talks resume on March 7 in Geneva with a view to guaranteeing the delivery of humanitarian aid to populations affected by the conflict.

According to the UN, more than 250,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011.

ISTANBUL

The blast occurred in the city of Salamyieh in Hama’s eastern countryside only hours after a cessation-of-hostilities agreement came into effect midnight Friday (local time).

Earlier this week, the cessation-of-hostilities deal was announced by both Washington and Moscow.

Daesh and Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the Nusra Front, along with other unspecified groups designated terrorist organizations by the UN Security Council, are not included in the agreement.

The deal is the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts ostensibly aimed at ending the conflict, which will soon enter its sixth year.

According to the UN, more than 250,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011.