Spotlight: Syria truce largely holds up in second day in Damascus

Two days into the landmark ceasefire, which covered parts of the country, people in the capital Damascus described a relatively calm day with no notable incidents Sunday, as battles against the militants, which were excluded from the truce, continued elsewhere.

Despite the few breaches that took place in its first day, the second day of the ceasefire was holding up pretty well in Damascus.

"The voices of shelling have dramatically declined in comparison with the pre-truce days," said Marwan, a technician in the eastern Tijara district, which is close to the hotspot suburb of Jobar, parts of which are held by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

Even though the areas held by the Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group are excluded from the truce, the intensity of shelling and the daily mortar shelling has dramatically declined in the capital, pushing people to cease the moment and throng the streets and marketplaces on Sunday.

For his part, Manhal, a 46-year-old lawyer, told Xinhua that some sounds of shelling were heard reverberating from the Eastern Ghouta countryside, where Jobar is located.

"For sure, there are positions of the Nusra inside, but the truth is that the sounds have declined notably. We hope it could continue to decline for this truce to include all of the Syrian cities," he said.

Damascus seems to be one of the main beneficiaries of the truce, as its surroundings don't have as thick presence of the IS and Nusra as in other areas and cities.

In the countryside of the central province of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense battles were taking place on Sunday between the government forces and the IS in the vicinity of the strategic city of Qaryatain. It added that rocket fire targeted areas in the eastern countryside of Homs.

The UK-based watchdog group said the Syrian forces shelled the rebel-held town of Dar al-Kabira and the village of Their Ma'leh.

In the countryside of Aleppo, Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) clashed with Islamist rebels in the Sheikh Maksud and Bani Zaid districts, which led to the injury of three people.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said airstrikes also targeted the town of Babis in the western countryside of Aleppo, leaving unknown losses.

It added that the Syrian air force also struck rebel positions in the northern countryside of the northwestern province of Latakia.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said armed militant groups along the border between Syria and Turkey fired tens of mortar shells and improvised rockets into Latakia Sunday.

It said the firing came from hilltops adjacent to the Turkish border, adding that the targets were areas in the northern countryside of Latakia.

Most of the terrorists are members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, SANA claimed.

Renewing their accusation that Turkey is behind the rebels fighting in Latakia, SANA said the areas between Latakia and Turkey harbors terrorists from different nationalities, including Saudis and Turks.

It added that Syria's military operations in northern Latakia forced many militants to flee back to Turkey.

With the ongoing battles against the Nusra and the IS, Ali Maksud, a retired Syrian officer, told Xinhua that the few breaches that had taken place during the truce near Damascus "will not affect the truce in general, because there is an international will to make the ceasefire a success."

He stressed that the truce wasn't breached in Damascus on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Russia and the Syrian opposition reported some breaches to the truce.

Moscow said it had identified nine breaches of the truce by the rebels, while the opposition said it identified 15 breaches by the government forces.

While saying it will send a formal letter of complaint about the breaches to the UN, the Syrian opposition High Negotiation Committee (HNC) said that despite violations "here and there," it was "positive to see people getting relief... to be safe, and free from fear."

The cessation of hostilities plan, which went into force midnight Friday, was agreed as part of a U.S.-Russian plan. Moscow said the truce, the major cessation of hostilities during Syria's prolonged war, is holding in general.

More than 250,000 people in Syria have been killed and almost half of the country's 23 million population displaced outside their homes. Endit