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Assad Regime Violates Ceasefire After Less Than an Hour
Bogdanov told the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency that he expects talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups to resume in early October, adding that Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy to Syria, would name the date.
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More than 90 people were killed in airstrikes that rained down on northwestern Syria on Saturday and Sunday, a rights group said.
The country’s civil war began five years again when rebels sought to overthrow the Assad family rule, and there have been nearly 300,000 casualties.
Hours after a ceasefire started in Syria on Monday, the world waited to see how long the fragile peace would last.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was “quiet” on almost all fronts across the country.
Russian Federation is a major backer of Mr Assad, while the United States supports some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.
“The Syrian state is determined to recover every area from the terrorists”, President Assad said in an interview aired by state media. He told reporters at the State Department that it was too early to draw a definitive conclusion about how effective the truce will be, and that there would no doubt be some reports of violations “here and there”. Considered terrorist groups, they are not covered by the agreement and military operations against them will continue throughout the ceasefire.
Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday said humanitarian aid to Aleppo via the northern road of Castello was to start immediately. Its 10,000 residents – many malnourished – were all forced to evacuate as part of the truce. “It could bomb at any moment”, he told Reuters from Aleppo, speaking via a web-based messaging system.
Monday’s ceasefire represents a beginning of an at-least temporary letup in the war, and a chance for some much-needed humanitarian relief for the hundreds of thousands of embattled Syrians who have endured this five-year-old conflict. Bombardment rocked the central town of Talbisseh all day, finally quieting down as the truce came into effect. The Syrian leader performed Muslim holiday prayers alongside other officials in a bare hall in a Daraya mosque.
No written copy of the agreement has been made public. “For the past half hour, we haven’t heard anything, but we aren’t very hopeful”. All previous diplomatic initiatives have collapsed in failure. Iran and Hezbollah of Lebanon have approved the deal and will be pleased that Mr Assad and his government are more secure, but they may also fear the outcome of US-Russian conciliation which might reduce their influence. But it faces big challenges, including how to separate nationalist rebels from the militants.
Speaking in the Commons the Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, said the stoppage’s success would depend on whether Russian Federation could rein in the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad.
“We fear that Russian Federation will classify all the Free Syrian Army (rebel factions) as terrorists”, as it was unclear how the deal defined “terrorist groups”, he said.
Hours before the cease-fire went into effect, Assad vowed that his government would take back land from “terrorists” and rebuild the country.
But, in any case, the agreement has several advantages for him, such as freezing the military situation as his military forces tighten their grip on Damascus and rebel-held East Aleppo. Opposition fighters are expected to separate from jihadist groups in areas such as Aleppo.
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Still, other rebel factions showed deep uncertainty. Government forces will be allowed to fight defensively, target the Islamic State group and, in some designated areas, go after Nusra forces.