Syria's cease-fire holding despite minor violations

Osama Abu Zeid of the the main moderate Syrian opposition group Free Syrian Army, shows what he said is a copy of the five-point cease-fire agreement for Syria, during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. Abu Zeid said that his group, one of the 13 armed opposition factions, had agreed to abide by the nationwide cease-fire agreement that will go into effect at midnight Thursday. The truce will be followed by peace talks in Kazakhstan that will focus on finding a solution for Syria's crisis, Abu Zeid said. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) (The Associated Press)

Key players in the civil war. (The Associated Press)

Syrian opposition activists say a nationwide cease-fire that went into effect at midnight is holding despite minor violations.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes early Friday between troops and rebels in the central province of Hama and near the capital, Damascus.

Opposition activist Mazen al-Shami, who is based in the Damascus suburb of Douma, says minor clashes nearby left one rebel wounded.

The cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey marks a potential breakthrough in the nearly six-year-long conflict, though past truces have failed.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency meanwhile quoted the military as saying Russia carried out three airstrikes against Islamic State targets near the northern town of al-Bab, where Turkish troops and allied Syrian forces have been battling the extremist group, which is excluded from the truce.