178 violations by Assad regime, allies in first week of ceasefire

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a non-governmental organization which monitors violations in Syria, has documented many violations of the now week-long ceasefire by Assad regime and its allies, which was declared on December 29, 2016. The Network said that since December, 2016, 11 people have been killed, including two women, a child, and an embryo .

A report issued by SNHR documented 178 violations in total, 169 of which were by fighting action, while the other nine were arrest cases.

160 of the violations were by Iran-backed militias and mostly took place in Hama, said the report, where the total number of violation since the declaration of the ceasefire was 55.

After Hama, comes Homs with 30 violations, then Aleppo and Daraa with 19 violation each, followed by Idlib where 14 violations happened.

The report also documented 14 violations by the Russians, six of which were in Aleppo, three in Hama and five in Idlib.

Most of the documented violations until now were committed by Assad regime and its Iranian ally, who will be largely affected by any political settlement in Syria, according to the report.

The report called on Russia, being one of the guarantors to the ceasefire, to put pressure on Assad regime and Iran to make them adhere to the ceasefire, otherwise this would lead to its collapse.

SNHR also called on Russia to stop violating the ceasefire and stop bombarding civilians as frequent breaches by the Russians, who are supposed to be guarantors to the ceasefire, will undermine the credibility of Russia in any future efforts.