Special U.S. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Tuesday that the cease-fire, agreed to last Friday between the United States and Russian Federation and which entered into force on Monday, has meant a significant reduction in violence in the country, with just a few “geographically isolated” incidents.
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Residents in Aleppo have welcomed the lull in fighting, but expressed frustration about the delay in promised aid. It’s also an important way to judge if the ceasefire is successful.
However, Poznikhir said there were doubts about whether the U.S. would be able to fulfill its pledge to persuade the opposition to sever links with Fatah al-Sham, formerly al Qaeda’s Syria branch the Nusra front. The Syrian air force will supposedly be banned from dropping “barrel bombs”, chlorine and other munitions on many areas where rebels are based – though there seem to be loopholes in the deal, and its text has not been made public.
“Syrian government troops have stopped all fire everywhere, except for areas where Islamic State and al-Nusra Front terrorists still operate”, General Viktor Poznikhir said in comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS.
As the truce largely holds, the Pentagon said Tuesday it launched various strikes on DAESH in Syria over the past several days, including hits on some targets that “may have resulted in civilian casualties”.
Various militants backed by the US and its Arab allies coordinate and even sometimes fight alongside Al Qaeda-linked militants.
If the ceasefire holds for seven days, Russian Federation and the U.S. will establish a joint center to coordinate airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria. And they worry that Moscow’s lack of precision targeting could result in civilian casualties, even if Russian Federation is attempting to strike Islamic State militants.
But if cooperation falls apart after the JIC is implemented, that could pose a whole new set of problems for the USA, according to Francona.
“Politics is coming in the way of the delivery”, the source said. “Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about the armed groups of moderate opposition controlled by the United States”, said Lieut.
“I’m not going to tell you I trust them”, said Harrigian.
Russian Federation said it had recorded 60 rebel violations of the ceasefire, while the opposition said they had recorded 28 serious violations by government troops on Tuesday.
Aid convoys positioned at the Turkish border town of Cilvegozu are poised to enter the country to deliver food and medical aid to rebel-controlled Aleppo, as soon as it’s deemed safe.
The aid organisations in a five page letter to the United Nations also called for global governing body to be more transparent in how it conducted its operations in Syria.
An activist with the opposition-aligned group Aleppo Media Center said people are hopeful this initiative will work, even though past agreements have fallen apart since the conflict began in 2011.
A U.S. -Russia brokered cease-fire in Syria came into effect Monday. “We’ll see what happens from there”.
When Russia launched its direct military intervention in Syria a year ago, President Obama predicted its only result would be a quagmire. This is something promising.
Dozens of people in Syria’s Aleppo are protesting against the United Nations ahead of an expected aid delivery, saying that they want a government siege lifted so they don’t have to rely on humanitarian assistance.
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Nevertheless, the ceasefire appears to have led to a respite in violence in the five-year civil war that’s killed 430,000 people, according to one estimate, and touched off an worldwide refugee crisis.
