An initial team of UN ceasefire monitors is due to arrive in Syria on Sunday, April 15 evening and will be deployed on Monday, the spokesman for international mediator Kofi Annan said, according to Reuters.

They will be joined by at least two dozen more in coming days in line with a UN Security Council resolution adopted on Saturday authorizing their deployment, Ahmad Fawzi said.

"The first batch of six UN observers arrives tonight, they will be on the ground in blue helmets tomorrow (Monday)," Fawzi told Reuters in Geneva. "They will be quickly augmented by up to 25-30 from the region and elsewhere."