Underscoring the war’s global impact, President Bashar al-Assad is backed by Russia’s air force, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Shi’ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon while the rebels are supported by the U.S., Turkey and Gulf Arab states.
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The United States and Russian Federation, backing opposing sides in the war, announced a deal in the early hours of Saturday including a nationwide ceasefire effective from sundown on Monday, improved aid access and joint targeting of banned militant Islamist groups.
They must now pull back from demilitarised zones, and allow civilian traffic and humanitarian deliveries – notably into the divided city of Aleppo where as many as 500,000 people have been killed in fighting.
Fighting Al-Nusra, no strikes on rebels, Aleppo relief…
Hours after the deal was announced, Syria’s army attacked rebel-held areas in Aleppo, as it tries to maximize gains before the ceasefire begins.
Ten people were killed by barrel bombs dropped by army helicopters on the besieged rebel-held east of the city, and jets, either Syrian or Russian, bombed rebel-held towns in the northern countryside along important insurgent supply routes, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“They waited until Assad and Russian Federation besieged Aleppo and then they reached a cease-fire”, he said. The ministry said it would deliver provisions through the United Nations to Aleppo, where it is “critical” after heavy fighting in recent months. “If [the U.S. and Russia] are going to step up during the ceasefire and carry out strikes against Nusra, then the whole thing will break down”, he said, using the group’s former name.
Syria’s government has accepted the cease-fire deal brokered by its Russian ally and the United States, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.
The HNC’s Kodmani said the opposition would “do our part” to see that rebel groups break ranks with the jihadists if the truce held. A spokeswoman had earlier welcomed any deal that spared civilian lives but cast doubt on whether Moscow would be able to pressure Damascus to stop indiscriminate bombing.
The final hours of the US-Russia talks in Geneva dragged out as Kerry contacted the White House to get approval for the plan, but the top diplomat said both governments stand by it.
Turkey said aid must be delivered from the very start while European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looked towards a “political transition”.
Standing by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a day of marathon talks in Geneva, Kerry said he believed the plan would lead to talks to “stop the conflict”. Both sides agreed not to release the documents publicly.
“This all creates the necessary conditions for resumption of the political process, which has been stalling for a long time”, Lavrov told a news conference.
Previous peace efforts have crumbled within weeks, with the United States accusing Mr Assad’s forces of attacking opposition groups and civilians.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the accord would prevent President Bashar al-Assad’s air force from flying combat missions anywhere the opposition is present, calling this provision the “bedrock of the agreement”.
Washington’s envoy to Syria warned the country’s mainstream rebels that cooperation with Fateh al-Sham, formerly al Qaeda’s Nusra Front, could bring “dire consequences” for them once the proposed US-Russian deal to attack hardline extremists comes into effect.
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The Iranian spokesman, however, underlined that the ceasefire does not apply to the terrorist groups, including Daesh (ISIL), al-Nusra Front or other newly-born offshoots, calling on the global community to keep battling against the Takfiri extremists seriously, without any consideration and incessantly.
