Jordan Says Southern Syria Opposition Ready for Cease Fire at Astana Talks

Representatives of Jordan at the Astana, Kazakhstan talks on the resolution of the Syrian conflict said that the opposition in southern Syria was ready to take part in the ceasefire regime and fight the al-Nusra Front and Daesh militants, Maj. Gen. Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, the head of the Russian delegation at the Astana meeting, said Monday.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the first session of the Syria ceasefire regime monitoring joint task force (JTF), bringing together experts from Russia, Iran and Turkey, concluded in Astana.

"The Jordanian side came through with some very interesting information during the talks – it outlined the situation in southern Syria, the readiness of opposition regiments in southern provinces of Syria to join the cessation of hostilities and their readiness to conduct operations against international terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front," Gadzhimagomedov, the deputy head of the Russian Armed Forces' main operational department, told reporters.

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in December that the Syrian government and armed opposition groups had reached an agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and on readiness to start peace talks.