Afrasianet - by  Mohammed Ebraheem - Cairo (IraqiNews.com) – A number of Syrian armed opposition factions from the northern and eastern regions of Syria signed on Monday a ceasefire agreement in Cairo under the sponsorship of Egypt.

The deal, guaranteed by Russia and through the mediation of Head of the Syrian Tayyar Al-Al-Ghad current Ahmed Al-Jarba, calls for unifying efforts to combat terrorism and work on reaching a political settlement of the Syrian crisis, according to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA).

The agreement also calls for the return of refugees and displaced to their home regions, in addition to releasing detainees.

The Egyptian leadership has always expressed support for a political settlement for the Syrian crisis in a way that ends bloodshed in Syria and maintains the unity of its territories.

Since its eruption in March 2011, the Syrian crisis has claimed the lives of about half a million people and displaced and wounded over 14 million others.

Russian troops in Syria have been launching bombing campaigns in support of the government forces, while a U.S.-led international anti-terror coalition has been launching airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in the conflict-stricken country.

The United Nations has verified that more than 7,000 children have lost their lives or been injured in the Syrian conflict since 2013 — and cites unverified reports putting the number “way beyond 20,000,” a U.N. envoy said Friday.

Virginia Gamba, the special representative for children in conflict, told the Security Council that since the beginning of 2018, the U.N. has verified over 1,200 violations against children. These include more than 600 children killed or maimed and over 180 recruited or used by government forces or armed groups, she said.