Air strikes on Syria's northwestern Idlib region stopped on Saturday, a war monitor said, after the regime agreed to a Russian-backed ceasefire following four months of deadly bombardment.
The truce is the second such agreement since an August 1 ceasefire deal broke down only days after going into effect, prompting Damascus and regime ally Moscow to resume bombardment.
Russia-backed regime forces have been pressing an offensive against the major opposition stronghold in Idlib despite a deal with opposition backer Turkey in September last year to protect the area.
On Friday, Moscow announced that Damascus government forces would observe a new ceasefire from Saturday morning in Idlib.
It said the truce aimed "to stabilize the situation" in the anti-regime bastion.
Syrian regime media on Saturday said the government agreed to the deal. But said the army "reserves the right to respond to violations" by opposition fighters.
The head of the Observatory said air strikes had stopped since the agreement went into effect at 6:00 am.
"There are no warplanes in the sky and air strikes have stopped," Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.
Clashes between regime loyalists and opposition fighters on the edges of the anti-government bastion have also ceased, he said.
However, artillery and rocket fire continued despite the deal, he added.
Only a few hours before it went into effect, a Russian air strike hit a health facility in Aleppo's western countryside, the Observatory said.
Only a few hours before it went into effect, the Observatory reported a Russian air strike on a health facility in Aleppo's western countryside.
It said the attack near the town of Urum al-Kubra after midnight wounded several health workers and left the medical center out of service.
"The attacks we have seen on health facilities, educational facilities and water points is one of the highest in the world," Panos Moumtzis, the UN's Syria humanitarian chief, told AFP on Friday.
"This is unacceptable," he said during an interview in Beirut.
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