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.
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Later, Kerry’s spokesman said a “primary goal 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”.
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But is the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad ready to stop fighting? While the statement did not explicitly back the ceasefire, rebel sources said the groups were abiding by it. But both countries share an antipathy for the Islamic State and Nusra Front fighters who have seized parts of Syria and made it a magnet for Islamic jihadis.
BEIRUT, Lebanon-A cease-fire in the Syrian civil war, negotiated by Russian Federation and the United States, officially took effect at sundown on Monday after a weekend of intensified fighting and a vow by the president to retake the entire country.
When Russia launched its direct military intervention in Syria a year ago, President Obama predicted its only result would be a quagmire.
An activist from the Aleppo Media Center – an opposition-affiliated activist group – told CNN that he read Assad’s presence in a formerly opposition-held area as a sign to “that this could be our fate someday”.
He said “a long list” of difficulties had confronted US 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.
“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.
Still, other rebel factions showed deep uncertainty.
This would prevent government forces from bombing civilians or opposition groups while claiming they were targeting militant groups, Kerry added.
The Syrian army announced the truce at 7:00pm (local time), the moment it took effect, saying the seven-day “regime of calm” would be applied across Syria.
The cease-fire deal, hammered out between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Saturday, was backed by Assad’s government.
Syrian civilians trapped in the long-running civil war have had a respite from constant shelling and gunfire after a U.S.
“We spent Eid in our bomb shelters and basements today”, said Hassan Abu Nuh of the Muslim holiday.
“To clarify: the arrangement announced last week makes no provision whatsoever for the USA and Russian Federation to approve strikes by the Syrian regime, and this is not something we could ever envision doing”, the statement continued. “It’s about the regime or not”, said Lund.
The suburb, previously held by the rebels, surrendered last month and reverted to Damascus’ control after four years of government siege.
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However The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported that calm appeared to be prevailing on most front lines, the BBC reported.
