As well as bringing a temporary end to the fighting, it aims to provide crucial aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians.
Advertisement
Hours before the truce took effect, an emboldened Assad vowed to take back all of Syria.
Various militants backed by the US and its Arab allies coordinate and even sometimes fight alongside al-Qaida-linked militants.
Previous deals this year to implement nationwide or localized ceasefires in Syria have each broken down within hours or days of going into effect.
In the meantime, the United Nations and other aid groups are poised to begin humanitarian deliveries into the besieged city of Aleppo on Tuesday after verifying a reduction in fighting that’s prevented their access in recent weeks.
More than 290,000 people have been killed and over half the population displaced since the conflict began.
Nationalist rebel groups, including factions backed by Assad’s foreign enemies, wrote to Washington on Sunday to express deep concerns over the truce.
“Assad is not supposed to be bombing the opposition, because there is a cease-fire”, Kerry told journalists at the State Department. “And after a period of reduced violence, then we will see the United States and Russian Federation taking coordinated steps to isolate and defeat the terrorist groups that have added immeasurably to Syria’s suffering and misery – and we will facilitate a political transition, which is the only way to bring about a durable end to this war”. “This is not something we could ever envision doing”, he said.
Ahmad al-Saoud, who heads the US-backed Division 13 rebel group which signed the letter, said they had received no response to their concerns.
Questions remain, however, about how the ceasefire will apply in several parts of the country where the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, is present. It remains excluded from the ceasefire, and other rebel groups say government forces or their allies can use its presence as an excuse to hit other targets. Washington, which supports some rebel factions, has been seeking to refocus the fighting in Syria on the Islamic State group, which still controls swathes of the country and has not been included in any ceasefires.
The proposed truce was announced on Saturday after marathon talks by the Russian and USA foreign ministers. “I think that probably at the very beginning of October (U.N. Syria envoy Staffan) de Mistura should invite all the parties”, Bogdanov was quoted as saying.
Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian government have all declared that they accept the deal.
“I will tell my expectations for the coming two days”, Abdelkafi al-Hamdo, a teacher and an anti-government activist, said in a text message minutes after the deal between the United States and Russian Federation was announced.
He made no mention of the ceasefire agreement, but said the army would continue its work “without hesitation, regardless of any internal or external circumstances”.
At least 91 people were killed and scores more wounded in two days of attacks on rebel-held areas around the country, mainly in Idlib and in the divided city of Aleppo, according to tallies by doctors, rescuers and monitoring groups. He said there has been a reduction in violence in its first hours and that it offers an opportunity for peace.
Rebels broke a regime siege of the east in August, but Assad loyalists restored the blockade on September 8.
He said aid agencies had been given assurances at the highest level that they would be able to deliver aid over the next week if all sides complied with the agreement.
Advertisement
If there are enough short-term interests that join the Americans and the Russians, then those of us on the humanitarian side have got a chance to try and make a difference for 17 million benighted people within the Syrian territory.
