Confusion reigned Monday over Syria’s new cease-fire as Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States and Russian Federation could permit President Bashar Assad’s government to launch new airstrikes against al-Qaida-linked militants.
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Under the truce that went into effect at sundown Monday, Assad’s forces are no longer supposed to bomb Syria’s opposition, Kerry said.
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 last ceasefire struggled with this question, as it also excluded Nusra and ISIS, but Nusra was so heavily embedded with so many rebel ceasefire participants that it opened up nearly every rebel group to targeting.
Russian Federation had long complained that USA -backed rebels forces are aligned with the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda linked group.
The State Department says the new cease-fire in Syria includes no provisions for the USA and Russian Federation to approve Syrian government airstrikes.
The Syrian government said it welcomes the deal.
Residents and observers reported quiet in most of the country hours after the truce came into effect, though activists said airstrikes took place on contested areas around the northern city of Aleppo.
“We are not optimistic about this ceasefire”, an activist for the Aleppo Media Center told CNN as explosions rang out in the background.
It reserved the right to respond with all forms of firepower to any violation by “armed groups”.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said early reports suggested there had been some reduction in violence. Hours after it came into force, a coalition of rebel factions put out a statement that stopped short of committing to the cease-fire, a reflection of their distrust of the government.
Daraya was under siege by the regime for years until a recent evacuation deal that allowed thousands of civilians and hundreds of rebel militants to leave the city, marking a major victory for Assad.
The deal, announced last week by Washington and Moscow, calls for a halt to fighting between the USA -backed opposition and the Russian-allied Syrian government.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that aid to the besieged city of Aleppo would start immediately.
Erdogan said he told the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and the US that training and equipping troops on the ground to battle IS is “not enough”, and that a no-fly zone should be the next step.
He said “a long list” of difficulties had confronted USA and Russian officials trying to hammer out the deal, but an agreement was reached, with the cease-fire set to begin in a few hours.
Various militants backed by the USA and its Arab allies coordinate and even fight sometimes alongside al-Qaida-linked militants.
But it has received mixed messages of commitment from various rebel factions.
Under the agreement, Syrian government forces are expected to halt hostilities against rebel forces but can continue strikes against terrorist groups, specifically Daesh and the Nusra Front.
Activists say Syrian government forces and their allies are bombing opposition areas in the country’s north, just hours ahead of the start of a US – and Russia-brokered cease-fire.
The Local Coordination Committees monitoring group reported airstrikes on the Aleppo neighborhoods and suburbs of Rashiddine, Salihine, and Jazmata.
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Along with Assad’s government, his key allies – Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – have also endorsed the deal.
