As the cease-fire came into effect, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that rebel factions must distance themselves from the al-Qaida-linked militants, whose group recently changed its name from Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or Levant Conquest Front.
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A later statement from State Department Spokesperson John Kirby stated that the goal of the (JIC) was to coordinate with Russian Federation, and that Syria would have no role in the effort.
Perhaps it’s the only one available to a US policy that swears off, as doomed to failure, the same limited military measures that Russian Federation has employed with success.
The cease-fire is being viewed with skepticism since previous attempts have faltered, but it “would probably free up some forces on [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad’s side for other tasks” like battling IS, said Aron Lund, a Middle East analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think-tank.
But Shoigu said in a statement that “the global order mustn’t be mistaken with the American order”.
-Russian coordination centre was being set up to determine Russian and US -led coalition targets.
In a stark message to opponents, Assad made a rare public appearance Monday by attending prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eidul Azha at a mosque in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.
And just hours before the ceasefire was to come into effect on Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he intends to re-conquer all of Syria. But, Assad’s forces can continue air strikes against the Islamic State group and al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the group once known as the Nusra Front.
In a letter to the U.S., the Free Syrian Army said it planned to “co-operate positively” and respect the ceasefire, but wrote that a lack of enforcement mechanisms and a lack of provision for some of the country’s most besieged areas were worrying.
“Assad is not supposed to be bombing the opposition, because there is a cease-fire”, Kerry told journalists at the State Department.
Kirby also told ABC News that there are predetermined areas that Assad will not be allowed to strike – areas that are Nusra-dominated, but protected by the US due to the intermingling of opposition forces.
According to the terms of the truce, the United States and Russian Federation will continue targeting jihadists in Syria while the air force of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad would be banned from flying over any rebel-held areas.
Russian Federation and Western nations hope the truce can lead to the revival of peace talks between Assad’s government and the rebels battling to overthrow him, and contribute to efforts to defeat the Islamic State group and other extremists in Syria.
Later, Kerry’s spokesman said a “primary objective of this agreement, from our perspective, is to prevent the Syrian regime air force from flying or striking in any areas in which the opposition or Nusra are present”.
“We have come here to give the message that the Syrian nation is determined to retake every piece of land from the terrorists, and to re-establish safety and security, to reconstruct and rebuild infrastructure and rebuild everything that has been destroyed”, he said in footage broadcast by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
In June, activists said the Syrian regime pounded the area with barrel bombs just hours after food aid was delivered to the besieged suburb for the first time in almost four years.
But in Aleppo, the northern city that has emerged as the epicenter of the fighting, opposition media activist Mahmoud Raslan said government helicopters dropped crude barrel bombs on a contested neighborhood.
The famous Castello Road in north Aleppo, previously the main rebel supply line to East Aleppo, will be demilitarised with both side’s forces pulling back. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
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Compounding the situation, a group of 21 rebel factions issued a statement Friday in which they warned against targeting al Qaeda-linked militants. Many Syrian and Russian operations have struck what USA officials describe as “moderate” forces that are “marbled” with the militants.
