Temporary truce begins in four Syrian towns

A new temporary truce has begun between pro-government and opposition forces in four Syrian towns, a group that monitors the Syrian conflict has reported.
Sunday’s ceasefire began in the rebel-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya outside the capital, Damascus,
and the regime-held Shia villages of Fouaa and Kafraya in the northwestern province of Idlib near the
Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Last month, two truces in the four towns did not hold. It is not clear how long the new truce will last or who brokered it.
The UK-based observatory said that hours before the start of the truce, a coalition of rebels led by al-Nusra Front seized parts of Fouaa after fierce fighting against pro-government militias backed by the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement.