BEIRUT – The international president of Doctors Without Borders says the medical charity’s teams have seen a “marked decrease” in air strikes and shelling in Syria since a cease-fire went into effect late last week.
Dr. Joanne Liu said Tuesday that the group, also known by its French acronym MSF, is ready to get more aid to hard-hit areas, but wants to see first if the limited truce will hold.
She told The Associated Press that MSF has not seen new movement of Syrian civilians in recent days, after thousands fled a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive last month.
Liu says there has been no response to repeated demands for an international investigation of back-to-back air strikes two weeks ago on an MSF-supported hospital that killed 25 people
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
told journalists on Tuesday in Geneva that U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura had confirmed new Syrian talks will begin in the first half of March, according to Russian news reports.
The foreign minister also said Russia, America and U.N. partners are pleased with the way the peace process is moving forward.
Lavrov said that they “are content with the humanitarian advances in Syria, including the unblocking of new settlements, delivery of supplies and foodstuffs to those in need.”
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said government forces shelled rebel-held parts of Daraa. The Observatory said several people were wounded.
The shelling appears to be a violation of a truce brokered by Russia and the U.S. that went into effect at midnight Friday.
The truce remains fragile amid reports of violations in different parts of Syria.

Source: Associated Press, 1 March 2016