Reuters

The "cessation of hostilities" began at midnight (22:00 GMT Friday) with early reports saying front lines were silent, BBC writes.

However, Syrian state television said several shells had hit residential areas of the capital, Damascus. It did not say who had fired.

Low-level clashes have also been reported between rebel groups and government forces elsewhere, according to the report.

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A special taskforce chaired by the United States and Russia will later meet in Geneva to monitor violations of the agreement.

The truce involves government and rebel forces, but not the so-called Islamic State group (IS) or the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

In the run-up to the deadline, U.S. President Barack Obama warned the Syrian government and its ally Russia "the world will be watching," BBC writes.

Russia halted air strikes at midnight on armed groups that had said they would abide by the temporary truce, a senior Russian defense official told reporters at a briefing in Moscow.

Russian jets were reported to have intensified attacks on Syrian rebel positions on Friday.

A few hours after the deadline passed, a car bomb killed two people outside the government-held town of Salamiyeh, near Hama, Syrian state media reported. It is not clear who carried out the attack but the victims were reportedly soldiers.

A spokesman from the Jaish al-Islam group said two barrel bombs were dropped on its positions in the eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. The group said it also exchanged fire with government troops.

The claims could not be verified and the Syrian military is yet to comment.

The cessation was brokered by the US and Russia, and is backed by a UN resolution. Previous talks in Geneva collapsed in early February after making no progress.

One of the key aims of the cessation is to allow desperately needed aid to reach people trapped in besieged areas.