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New ceasefire agreement in southwest Syria comes into effect

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A new ceasefire in Syria brokered between the US and Russia, with the support of Jordan, came into effect at 9.00 am GMT on Sunday, in what is the first attempt by the Trump administration to de-escalate hostilities in the Syrian civil war.

The plan was announced on Friday 7 July at the G20 summit in Germany, after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. It affects the regions of Deraa and Suweida, along the Jordanian border, as well as Quneitra, near the border between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights.

US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said in a statement on Saturday that de-escalation zones are a US priority and that the US “remains committed to defeating ISIS, helping to end the conflict in Syria, reducing suffering, and enabling people to return to their homes”.

Although no details have emerged as to how the ceasefire will be monitored and enforced, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov said that the US and Russia “promised to ensure that all groups there comply with the ceasefire” and “provide humanitarian access”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said “calm prevailed” in the southwest after the truce came into effect on Sunday, despite minor violations.

The new ceasefire is the fifth attempt at a major ceasefire in Syria since 2011. Three of those ceasefires unravelled within months. The fourth attempt in May was never enforced as rebel groups denounced the deal shortly after it was signed.

Also on Sunday, Iraqi state television showed Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arriving in Mosul and congratulating the armed forces for their “great victory” over ISIS after nearly nine months of urban warfare, bringing an end to the jihadists three-year rule in the city.

The group still controls significant territory in Iraq and is expected to revert to more conventional insurgent tactics such as bombings.

Abadi’s spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, said victory would not be formally declared until the few remaining ISIS militants were cleared from the city.