“Jihadists from the Caucasus and from (China’s mainly Muslim region of) Xinjiang, as well as the jihadist group Jund al-Aqsa, cut the route from the south after a surprise attack”, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
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Explosions meanwhile ripped through the central Syrian city of Homs and a Damascus suburb, killing dozens of people, and government forces backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo that has undermined previous efforts to halt the fighting.
The officials said that the two sides have agreed on the terms and conditions for the “cessation of hostilities”.
He told The Associated Press in Damascus that he was “not optimistic that clashes will stop because we are dealing with criminals who have hundreds of state sponsors” and various loyalties.
The main umbrella for Syrian opposition and rebel groups said late Monday that it “agrees to a temporary truce” as long as the main opposition’s demands are met.
The group has escalated attacks on government targets in recent days.
“It’s about preventing other countries, especially Turkey, from sending more recruits, more terrorists, more armaments, or any kind of logistical support to those terrorists”, Assad said in English in the interview, which was also carried by state news agency SANA.
The truce excludes attacks on the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s local affiliate.
The Russian Foreign Ministry put out a statement earlier Monday saying that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kerry spoke two more times by telephone on Sunday and agreed on the parameters for the ceasefire.
De Mistura condemned the bombings and said it suggested the group is feeling “cornered” amid an intensified diplomatic push to end the five-year war.
Details of the tentative ceasefire between the government and insurgents, announced in Jordan on Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, have not been made public. He said the operation is not about “recapturing the city”.
The U.S., Russian Federation and other world powers agreed February 12 in Munich to bring about a pause in hostilities that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks.
The Syrian military reserved the right to “respond to any breach by these groups against Syrian citizens or against its armed forces”, a government statement added.
As Damascus accepted a U.S.-Russian plan for a “cessation of hostilities” between the government and rebels due to take effect on Saturday, heavy Russian air strikes were also said to be targeting one of the last roads into opposition-held parts of Aleppo.
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The Islamic State group claimed both attacks. Khanaser lies along the government’s only access route to the city.
