Syria: Ceasefire survives after initial clashes

The ceasefire deal between Syrian government forces and rebels that came into effect from midnight held early on Friday, with reports of isolated clashes and gunfire in the initial stages, a monitoring group and a rebel official told Reuters.

According to media reports, the ceasefire was violated shortly after it came to effect with clashes taking place in the northwest of the country.

But hours later, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the general "calm continues", said Reuters.

A rebel official in the Jaish al-Nasr group told Reuters that there had been "some shelling during the night, but today it's stopped ... until now the situation is good."

(WION with inputs from Reuters)