Aid crosses into Syria as war death toll passes 300,000

Fresh humanitarian aid is on its way to the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo — as the death toll of the five-year civil war is said to have reached 300,000.

Around 20 trucks carrying food, children's clothes and toys crossed into northern Syria from the Turkish border town of Cilvegozu earlier, as the ceasefire appeared to be holding well on its first full day.

A Reuters witness reported seeing the vehicles, as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 86,000 civilians were among the 301,781 people killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

The figure is an increase of nearly 9,000 on the last death toll published by the UK-based monitoring group in early August.

A map showing the latest areas of territorial control in Syria

Just before the truce began, the Observatory reported 13 people killed by regime shelling of the rebel town of Douma, near Damascus, and another 13 fatally wounded in unidentified raids in Idlib province.

The latest ceasefire came into force at sunset on Monday and appeared to be in tact, despite sporadic and minor violations.

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The Syrian army has pledged a "regime of calm" across the country, while Russia has said it will continue to target "terrorists".

US forces are also expected to continue the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

The cessation of hostilities was brokered by the US and Russia — the second attempt this year by Washington and Moscow to bring the war to an end.

John Kerry has been meeting Russia's Sergei Lavrov in Geneva

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier on Tuesday that Moscow wanted to make public the details of the deal, but the US was opposed to such a move.

He said Russia had "nothing to hide" and wanted the UN Security Council to formally approve the truce as well.

The ceasefire will be renewed every 48 hours. If it holds for a week, the US and Russia are due to begin sharing intelligence too.

It is hoped that humanitarian supplies can be distributed as well.

Turkey and Russia had both pledged to deliver aid to Aleppo straight away.

Moscow has reportedly deployed a "mobile observation post" to monitor the ceasefire on Castello Road — the remaining single supply route leading to the rebel-held side of the city.

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