The U.N. Security Council is again demanding a cease-fire throughout Syria and backing a U.N.-endorsed roadmap for a peaceful transition and elections in the conflict-torn country. The Observatory says Turkish shelling and airstrikes have killed another 27 people in the Kurdish-held town of Afrin, in north Syria. Turkey is waging a war on a Syrian Kurdish militia that controls Afrin and the surrounding region. Lavrov spoke in Kazakhstan on Friday, saying the cease-fire will be extended “until all (civilians) leave” the enclave known as eastern Ghouta. The civilians were fleeing as Syrian government troops, backed by Russian aircraft, pushed further into eastern Ghouta.

Source: National Post March 16, 2018 09:50 UTC