The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said major conflict zones in Syria were calm after the ceasefire took effect.
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Summary⎙ Print The United States and Russian Federation brokered a cease-fire, now in effect in Syria, which they hope will lead to an ease in the suffering of Syrians and spark “negotiated peace” discussions. And it’s unlikely the various military units will work in concert – though Washington and Moscow said there will be some joint efforts.
The deal’s fragility was underscored even before it took effect when President Bashar al-Assad vowed to retake all of Syria from “terrorists”. During that time, all fighting between the military of President Bashar Assad and rebels is to stop.
The pact spells out a process that intends – at least according to the Obama Administration – to culminate in Assad’s departure.
The ceasefire deal is backed by foreign countries ranging from Mr. Assad’s ally Iran to Turkey, one of the main supporters of groups fighting to overthrow him. “A lot of shelling and bombs will fall upon civilians, especially the nearly empty markets”. The regime refers to all its opponents as terrorists.
(Syrian Presidency via Facebook).
The Syrian opposition and armed groups issued statements offering lukewarm, conditional support for a truce, if not for the broader US-Russian plan, until receiving further information on it. One prominent neoconservative pundit sneered, “If Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, he might want to make Secretary of State John Kerry his special envoy for U.S”.
It said a joint U.S. The first, reached in February, collapsed within weeks.
Kerry also said that the only “realistic and possible solution” to the conflict would be a return to UN-mediated peace talks.
1 An initial 48-hour ceasefire if successful, can be renewed for another 48 hours at a time.
A final rocket was sacked from the east into government areas just five minutes before 7:00 pm, while rebel neighbourhoods had not been hit by bombardments for about two hours, they said.
But that scenario is complicated by the fact that Jabhat Fatah al-Sham remains intertwined with several other groups fighting on the ground. A partial “cessation of hostilities” that brought sorely needed relief to civilians in March unraveled as the government continued to strike targets in opposition areas, including near a hospital and school near Damascus and a marketplace in Idlib province, killing dozens of civilians. But many activists and Syrians, especially those living in rebel-held areas, remain skeptical of the latest peace deal.
“We spent Eid in our bomb shelters and basements today”, said Hassan Abu Nuh of the Muslim holiday.
As with ceasefire attempts earlier this year, Fatah Al Sham rejects the current one. Lavrov told reporters in Geneva that Assad has given his assent.
Syrian army announced a seven-day nationwide ceasefire as of Monday, state news agency SANA reported. Some have complained that the cease-fire deal does not mention Assad’s future and keeps in place the government siege of rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
A report from National Public Radio (NPR) cited a joint statement from Kerry and Lavrov saying that Russian Federation has persuaded the Syrian government, which it has supported, to keep its air force from flying combat missions in areas where the opposition is present – areas that will be delineated by the United States and Russian Federation.
The FSA also claimed that the exclusion of the Jabhat Fateh al Sham group – a former al Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front – could be used by Russian Federation as a pretext to bomb other rebel groups. “They have an external plotting agency plotting as we speak against some of our allies, friends and ourselves”.
A young boy cries during a surge in violence in Syria ahead of a cease-fire.
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Once U.S. -Russian military cooperation is established, Kirby said, the focus would be to “coordinate military action between the U.S. and Russia, not for any other party”.
