'Syria regime, allies breached truce 52 times on Tuesday'

By Muhamed Yusuf

ISTANBUL

The Assad regime and its allies carried out 52 truce violations on Tuesday, four days after a cessation of hostilities agreement went into effect in war-torn Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said in a report.

In its report, issued on Wednesday, the U.K.-based NGO said that the 52 violations had included "19 armed clashes [with enemy forces] and 32 detentions by regime forces".

According to the report, regime forces prevented a humanitarian aid convoy from entering the town of Muadamiyat al-Sham in the Rif Dimashq province and engaged in 15 incidents of ground fighting.

"The total number of truce violations now stands at 145 since the truce went into effect on Feb. 27," the NGO asserted.

According to the report, the violations were committed in Syria’s Hama, Homs, Idlib, Rif Dimashq and Daraa provinces.

The State Department expressed concerns over the report, saying the U.S. was looking into each of the allegations "very closely," and shared them among other members of the International Syria Support Group, including Russia and Iran.

Regarding similar reports that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in various attacks after the truce went into effect, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the agency was aware of the allegations but could not confirm them.

"The OPCW's [(Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] fact finding mission will investigate any -- all credible allegation of C.W. [chemical weapon] use in Syria," he said.

To help monitor the truce, Toner said the U.S. set up an around the clock hotline staffed by State Department officials, where violations of the agreement could be reported through phone, e-mail, text message, Whatsapp, telegram and Google Voice.

Meanwhile, the Russian forces also committed two violations -- one in Idlib and another in Hama -- while Syrian Kurdish forces committed a violation in Raqqa province, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights report.

Wednesday’s report did not cover violations committed in areas held by the Daesh terrorist group.