Fighting subsided across much of Syria Saturday as the first major ceasefire of the devastating five-year war appeared to broadly hold despite sporadic breaches in parts of the battle-scarred country.<br />The truce, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is seen as a crucial step towards ending a conflict that has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population.<br />A special international task force co-chaired by the United States and Russia hailed the ceasefire.<br />"The United Nations, the United States and Russia have made a positive assessment of the first hours of the cessation of hostilities," a western diplomat said after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Geneva.<br />The UN reported "some incidents" in apparent violation of the truce, but "they have been defused", he said.
