Afghan troops will remain on standby even as the seven-day "reduction in violence" is set to take effect at midnight, the spokesman of the Afghan Security Council revealed on Friday.

"They will be just on standby and protect themselves from attacks and will not attack the Taliban. Afghan national forces will send first responders to places controlled by the Taliban," Javed Faisal said.

A high-ranking official in the restive Nangarhar province said that the Taliban were expected to cut back on attacks on public areas, roads, military bases and public services by 80 percent.

The US-Taliban agreement was met with relief in Afghanistan. Afghan lawmaker Saima Khogyani said the arrangement would bring almost two decades of fighting between the US and Taliban closer to an end. "That peace is the dream of our nation and now we get closer to this process," she stated.

A Turkish soldier identified as Mecit Demir has been killed in a bombing in Idlib, the governor's office of the southern Turkish Gaziantep province said in a Twitter post.

Most recently, Turkish artillery struck Syrian positions as militants launched a "major offensive" to retake lost ground. The barrage ceased, though, when Moscow contacted Ankara. The Syrian Army supported by the Russian Air Force also managed to repel the attack.

Moscow also stepped up its diplomatic efforts to ease tensions on the ground. Yet, despite the "intensified contacts" between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayip Erdogan, the fight in Idlib has showed no signs of waning so far.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were calling on parties to the Syrian conflict to respect the ceasefire in the province of Idlib amid the ongoing escalation of tensions in the region.

"We believe that this situation could be settled only via a call for an immediate cessation of hostilities", Macron said at a press conference in Brussels on late Friday. He described the situation in Idlib as dangerous, adding that the current hostilities may result in a further uncontrolled escalation of violence.

"We know that today Idlib is facing a humanitarian disaster amid the ongoing offensive of the forces loyal to the Syrian regime, backed by Russia", the French leader said, adding that the hostilities left some hospitals and offices of non-governmental organizations ruined.

Macron also called for resuming the political settlement and Istanbul-format talks, which involve France, Germany, Russia and Turkey.

• US military contradicts MSM narrative, admits Idlib is 'magnet' for terrorists, Russia and Syria make gains in region
• Turkey faces strategic defeat in Idlib after failing to live up to its commitments on Syria
• Terrorists launch major attack against Syrian Army in Idlib, 'pro-Turkish' militants involved
• Turkey threatens open war against Syria as its forces in Idlib province close in on "world's largest Al-Qaeda safe haven"
• Russia will continue to support Syria's fight against terrorists, despite Trump and Erdogan's calls to stop
• Syria: Aleppo intl airport receive first flight ending 8 years long shutdown

• Irate French farmers descend on Paris in 1,000-strong tractor convoy to protest EU regulations
• French farmers dump manure outside politician's office protesting EU's trade deal with Canada

• "Digital strip-search": Travellers to New Zealand now face $5000 fine if they refuse
• China's 'Smart' surveillance tech arrives in Darwin, Australia
• Moscow cops may get AR-googles with automatic facial recognition
• State endorsed police brutality and France's massive protests

Efforts to get to the bottom of precisely what it was claimed the Russians were actually doing to help Trump in 2020 have come up empty. CBS reporter Catherine Herridge said the ODNI officials who briefed the House on the alleged meddling had no "signals intelligence" or any tangible material to offer as proof. The response was more than a little redolent of the "17 intelligence agencies" - which morphed into three, then became hand-picked agents from three - who had insisted, citing classified information the public simply wasn't permitted to see, that they had proof of a Kremlin-directed influence campaign intervening on behalf of Trump in the 2016 election. The unclassified section of their report - which included a lengthy discussion of RT programs long off the air - did not inspire confidence, however.

Perhaps having learned their lesson, intelligence officials speaking to the New York Times claimed that Russians weren't doing all the influencing themselves this time - instead, they were conning gullible Americans into repeating their talking points. "Undermining confidence in American election systems" (not exactly rocket science after the Iowa caucuses and 2016 in general) and "sowing doubt over close elections and recounts" would be two dead giveaways that one was dealing with a victim of Russian influence operations, the officials said.

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