OSCE reports presence of heavy weapon near frontline in E. Ukraine

The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Thursday it has recorded a presence of heavy weapons, which is banned under a current ceasefire deal, near the frontline in the eastern regions.

"The SMM observed numerous weapons missing from storage sites and the presence of weapons in violation of withdrawal lines, quite often in or near residential areas," the SMM said in a report.

In particular, last week, the OSCE monitors observed the presence of multiple rocket launchers on both sides of the contact line, the document said.

The report came amid an escalation of hostilities between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in the restive area that started in May 2016 as the sides failed to find common ground on local elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Over the past day, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and six others were wounded in the fighting, according to government military spokesman Olexandr Motuzyanyk.

The insurgents have not commented on their casualties in the past 24 hours.

More than 9,500 people were killed and 22,000 were injured since the conflict in eastern Ukraine started in April 2014.

The government and the rebel forces were meant to withdraw all their heavy weaponry from the combat area and place it into OSCE-monitored storage sites under the peace agreement reached in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February 2015. Endi