No deaths in first 48 hours of Syria truce

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has not recorded a single civilian or combatant death from fighting in the first 48 hours of a ceasefire in Syria which came into effect on Monday night.

But the monitor recorded a number of incidents of shelling by various rebel factions and of shelling and air strikes by pro-government forces around the country.

These incidents caused material damage and some injuries, but no deaths, it said on Wednesday.

The truce, brokered by Russia and the United States, is their second attempt this year to halt Syria's five-year-old civil war.

Russia is a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States supports some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.

The ceasefire does not include the insurgent groups Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and Islamic State.

Syrian government operations continued against Islamic State in areas controlled by the hardline Islamists around the country on Wednesday leading to the deaths of six civilians, the Observatory said.

Earlier on Wednesday Interfax news agency quoted Lieutenant-General Viktor Poznikhir from a press conference saying the ceasefire had been violated 60 times in the first 48 hours, with most violations committed by the Ahrar al-Sham armed group.

Russia supports the extension of the ceasefire for another 48 hours, Interfax reported the senior officer at Russia's army general staff, as saying at a news briefing.

Russian military aircraft struck a group of Islamic State fighters preparing an attack on Syria's Palmyra, Poznikhir also said.

The official said Russian armed forces had killed 250 fighters and destroyed around 15 pick-ups with mounted machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. Poznikhir said "The struggle with Islamic State continues,".