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1st LD: Syrian rebels accused of breaching Aleppo truce

Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Rebels in Syria's northern city of Aleppo have violated the regime of calm, firing 20 mortar shells into government-controlled areas on Thursday, state news agency SANA reported.

The rebels fired improvised rockets into the al-Ashrafiyeh district, Jamiyet al-Zahra', Midan, Slaimaniyeh, and the Family House area as well as the al-Farah School, said SANA.

Earlier in the day, a military source told Xinhua that the rebels in eastern Aleppo violated the truce just eight minutes after it went into effect with two mortars slamming west of Aleppo.

They also fired two mortars early Thursday, the source added.

A 48-hour regime of silence started in Aleppo at 1:00 a.m. Thursday (2300GMT Wednesday), said a military statement.

The truce in Aleppo came as the city has witnessed over 10 violent days, during which more than 120 people were killed and hundreds of others wounded.

The truce in Aleppo, backed by both the United States and Russia, came to bring a lull to the troubled city that has witnessed the most violent shelling from rebels on government-controlled areas.

Opposition activists also accused government troops of conducting airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city.

The "regime of silence" has previously been announced to include areas in the countryside of the capital Damascus and the northwestern province of Latakia. Endit