“The fighting is flaring on all the fronts of southern Aleppo but the clashes in Amiryah are the heaviest”, said Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razak, the military spokesman of the rebel Nour al-Din al Zinki Brigades.
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The deal was thrashed out by USA secretary of state John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and it is hoped the plan could reduce violence in Syria and lead to a long-sought political transition, ending more than five years of bloody civil war.
“Today, the United States and Russian Federation are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering, and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria”, Kerry said.
For that reason, he said, much of the deal would remain secret to prevent efforts at sabotage. It is seen as a first step in what could become a broader military pact between Russian Federation and the United States that has so far remained elusive.
Assad’s regime will need to agree not to send Syrian military planes into combat missions in an agreed area, while Russian-backed government forces and opposition groups – supported by Gulf states and the USA – will need to halt fighting for an unspecified amount of time as a confidence building measure, Reuters reported.
The statement said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had “closely followed” the process to secure the ceasefire, following talks with Russian and U.S. counterparts Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 in China.
There are still formidable obstacles in the way of carrying out the agreement. The two diplomats have been trying to land an agreement on cooperation in the war-torn Syria.
This deal appears more ambitious, since it includes an agreement to seek broader military cooperation between Russian Federation and the United States if the ceasefire holds.
“The Syrian government has approved the agreement, and a cessation of hostilities will begin in Aleppo for humanitarian reasons”, the agency wrote.
“The United Nations hopes that the political will that led to this understanding is sustained”, the statement said.
“Today we are announcing an arrangement that we think has the capability of sticking, but it’s dependent on people’s choices”, Kerry said in Geneva, Switzerland, appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
But this is a complex plan and depends on all sides doing what has been agreed. They would be restricted to operations against the Islamic State. The Pentagon is backing local ground forces and conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State.
Russian Federation and the United States have agreed to hold regular talks aimed at ensuring aircraft remain at safe distances from each other, but are not cooperating on military operations.
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The proposed level of U.S. Syria’s mainstream opposition also welcomed the proposed deal on Saturday, saying the ceasefire could eventually end the suffering of the civilians.
