Russia halts all Syria bombing sorties to avoid ‘mistakes’

The Russian military said its warplanes suspended all sorties over Syria on Saturday in line with a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and the United States, to avoid any "bombing mistakes".

The Russian and American militaries also exchanged maps of Syria, while fighting stopped in 34 Syrian settlements, the military said.

"Russia's air force fully halted bombing in the green zone," a senior representative of the General Staff, Sergei Rudskoi, told reporters, referring to the areas and armed groups that expressed interest in observing the ceasefire deal.

He added that "on February 27, sorties of the Russian aviation in Syria including long-range aviation, are not being carried out".

He said this was being done to rule out "any possible bombing mistakes" and in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.

A ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow and Washington called for the cessation of hostilities from 2200 GMT yesterday between Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad's forces and opposition groups.

The deal does not however include the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front jihadists.

Rudskoi said 17 armed groups -- those who fight alongside regime forces or independently -- contacted Russia's ceasefire coordination centre at the Hmeimim airbase and pledged to honour the ceasefire deal.

He also said that within the framework of the ceasefire deal the Russian and US militaries exchanged maps of Syria.

Rudskoi said more than 6,000 fighters had joined the truce deal, saying the Russians handed their lists to the US counterparts. He added that the Americans also received a list of 74 settlements and areas which should not be bombed.