The ceasefire is the second attempt this year by Washington, which backs some rebel groups, and Moscow, which backs the Assad government, to halt the five-year civil war.
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The initial 48-hour truce entered into force at 7:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) across Syria except in areas held by jihadists like the Islamic State group.
A Syrian ceasefire plan backed by the United States and Russian Federation went into effect today amid cautious hopes it may herald at least a pause in the relentless violence that has raged for five years.
The Syrian army announced Monday that a cease-fire has begun, making it the third major truce since Russian Federation began its bombing campaign in Syria a year ago in support of President Bashar Assad.
Washington has said the ceasefire includes agreement that the government will not fly combat missions in an agreed area on the pretext of hunting fighters from the former Nusra Front.
Some Syrian rebel groups have expressed concern that an upcoming ceasefire in the war-torn country is a “trap” which will largely benefit Bashar al Assad’s government.
Russian Federation and the U.S. will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups, including so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (known until recently as the Nusra Front). Kerry warned its failure could lead to an escalation of the conflict, which would make keeping Syria a unitary nation hard after five brutal years of civil war that have killed an estimated half a million people.
And in Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 58 people were killed in a series of bombings, including one on a vegetable market, with 13 children among the dead.
Syria’s government and its allies including Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement have backed the truce.
The US isn’t willing to give up control in Syria, but if the ceasefire goes south, it will blame Russian Federation for not controlling Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said aid would be delivered to the besieged city of Aleppo straight away.
Hours before the ceasefire went into effect, the Syrian president vowed that his government would take back land from “terrorists” and rebuild the country.
The group, which now calls itself Jabhet Fateh al-Sham, has been playing a vital role in the battle for Aleppo allied with other rebel factions.
It said the ceasefire shared the flaw that doomed the previous truce: a lack of guarantees or monitoring mechanisms. If the ceasefire lasts for a week, the two countries want to begin military options to fight ISIS and Jabhat fateh Al-Sham.
Under the strained truce, which took effect on Monday evening amidst reports of minor violations, the Syrian government must refrain from fighting in areas where “moderate” rebels are deployed.
Pro-government news organisations reported, however, that the Government would not accept all of the ceasefire’s terms, including a requirement that pro-Assad forces retreat from a key road into Aleppo that was seized from the rebels almost two months ago.
The United States accepted fewer than 1,700 Syrian refugees in fiscal year 2015 after conducting what the State Department says has been a very rigorous screening of the backgrounds of asylum seekers to assure they do not pose a risk to the U.S.
Ahmad Primo, an opposition media activist in the contested city of Aleppo, says airstrikes on the city’s rebel-held eastern district “have not let up” since the morning. In the southern province of Daraa, a rebel faction said in a statement that it had killed four government soldiers.
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Opposition sources quoted by Reuters said that a forthcoming statement supporting the cessation “with harsh reservations” would be backed by “the largest groups”, including Ahrar al-Sham.
