A ceasefire between Syrian forces and rebels north of Homs has been agreed and will come into effect on Thursday. Russia's Defence Ministry said it would be the third such de-escalation zone put in place since July after talks between powers backing and opposing the Syrian government. <br/><br/>The others cover parts of south-western Syria and the outskirts of Damascus. Syria's war has raged since 2011 but fighting has become more patchy amid a series of truce deals in recent months. The conflict has left more 330,000 people dead and displaced millions more.<br/><br/>Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the latest ceasefire was agreed with the moderate Syrian opposition and covered an area encompassing more than 147,000 people. <br/><br/>He said Russia would set up two checkpoints and three observation posts along the truce lines on Friday