UN reports first positive responses to call for ceasefires

The United Nations said Thursday it has received its first positive responses to its call for warring parties around the world to observe a ceasefire so as to allow for a better response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Specifically, rebels groups in Cameroon and the Philippines have heeded the appeal, the UN said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued the call Monday in a bid to protect civilians, the idea being that in war-ravaged countries like Yemen and Syria -- largely spared so far by the virus -- the health care systems are already in ruins and spread of the pathogen would be catastrophic.

In Cameroon, two mainly English-speaking separatist regions of the Central African country have been fighting the government in the also French-speaking country for three years in a war that has left more than 3,000 people dead, many of them civilians.

The UN also said the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting to overthrow the Manila government, announced a temporary ceasefire on Tuesday.

"The secretary-general also hopes that this will serve as an example across the world to silence the guns and come together as we face the global threat of COVID-19," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.