Syria talks begin in Astana amid regime truce breaches

By Khalid Suleiman

ANKARA (AA) - As talks aimed at ending Syria’s six-year-long conflict kicked off in Kazakh capital Astana on Monday, the Assad regime and allied militias reportedly continue to commit ceasefire violations.

According to local sources, pro-regime terrorist militias launched a ground assault on the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta and the Jobar district of the Rif Dimashq province.

Regime warplanes, meanwhile, pounded opposition positions in the Aleppo, Daraa and Hama provinces, the same sources said.

They also asserted that, since Monday morning, the Jabal al-Akrad region of Syria's northwestern Latakia province had come under fire by the regime and its allies.

The ceasefire, which came into effect on Dec. 30, was brokered by Turkey -- which backs the Syrian opposition -- and Russia and Iran, both of which support the Assad regime.

The reported truce violations come as opposition and regime delegates begin holding talks in Astana aimed at extending the three-week-old ceasefire.

Talks are expected to discuss means of improving security inside Syria and hammering out a political solution to the devastating conflict.

An estimated 400,000 people have been killed -- and some 11 million displaced -- since the conflict began in March 2011, according to UN figures.