Half an hour before the truce went into effect, violence was reported in several areas throughout Syria. If the truce holds for a week, the U.S. and Russia would begin intelligence sharing and target coordination against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants. "That should put an end to the barrel bombs, an end to the indiscriminate bombing of civilian neighborhoods," Kerry said 
 
 The ceasefire will also allow for much-needed humanitarian access to besieged cities like Aleppo. ___ 
 
 6 p.m. 
 
 Italy says a Syrian cease-fire could pave the way for political negotiations aimed at ending the long and bloody conflict. This isn't the first time various parties have tried to end the bloody battles that have afflicted Syria since civil war broke out five years ago. Just after the ceasefire came into effect at sunset on Monday, the Syrian army announced a seven-day "freeze" on military operations. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Bashar al-Assad: "The Syrian state is determined to recover all areas from the terrorists" 
 
 Speaking earlier, President Bashar al-Assad welcomed the deal but said the Syrian state was still "determined to recover every area from the terrorists, and to rebuild". SANA says no civilians were present in the suburb, once home to nearly a quarter million people, after the last of them were evacuated as part of the surrender agreement. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who negotiated the ceasefire along with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, said the deal would stop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's air force from flying combat missions anywhere the opposition is present. But human rights groups monitoring the situation reported several airstrikes in the Aleppo region and near Raqqa, ISIS's de facto capital, just days after the truce took effect. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 18 militants were killed fighting government forces in the push in the south. The cease-fire deal hammered out between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva last week allows the Syrian government to continue to strike at the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants, until the U.S. and Russia take over the task in one week's time.
– The latest attempt to bring peace to Syria has officially begun: A ceasefire brokered last week by the US and Russia went into effect Monday morning, reports the BBC. However, this being Syria—whose civil war is a many-sided conflict—it remained unclear just how effective it would be. The Syrian government and its main allies, Russia and Iran, say they will abide by the weeklong truce, but the country's most powerful insurgent groups have not yet said whether they will, reports AP. If the truce holds for a week, the US and Russia would begin intelligence sharing and target coordination against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked militants. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed that his government would take back all its land from "terrorists." Assad spoke during a rare public appearance that included attending prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, which had surrendered last month and reverted to government control after a four-year siege. "We call on all Syrians to turn toward reconciliation," he said. Italy, meanwhile, says a Syrian cease-fire could pave the way for political negotiations aimed at ending the long and bloody conflict. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after talks with his Cypriot counterpart that a cessation of hostilities must happen before talks can begin. CNN has a primer on the truce.