Syrians are voting in a parliamentary election in government-held areas of the country, with over 3-thousand 500 candidates vying for 250 parliamentary seats.

The vote is the second ballot since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. It comes amid violence that has surged in recent days, threatening a fragile six-week ceasefire.

The government says its aim was to "defend the constitution". The opposition, however, has denounced the process, and called for a boycott. Syrian President Bashar Assad voted in Damascus, with his wife Asma at his side. He said that terrorism had not destroyed Syria's "national identity".

"Terrorism has failed in the first years to achieve its goals. It is true that terrorism managed to destroy much of the infrastructure, and it managed to shed lots of blood, but it failed to realize the main goal, which is to strike at the main infrastructure in Syria, the social infrastructure and the national identity," said a Syrian President Bashar Assad.