The cease-fire went into effect at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT), but powerful rebel groups have yet to say whether they will abide by it.
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At the start of the first full day of the Syria ceasefire, there’s a glimmer of hope that a temporary halt in fighting will bring much needed calm to parts of the war-ravaged country.
For it to work, Kerry said Assad’s government must allow aid deliveries to besieged areas.
Lieutenant-General Viktor Poznikhir, a senior Russian Defence Ministry officer, said in comments broadcast by state television that Moscow had sent artillery reconnaissance equipment to Aleppo to monitor and suppress violations.
The cease-fire deal was reached last week but opened under a cloud of doubt after at least one rebel group did not commit to the plan, and Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed to “retake every area from the terrorists”.
BEIRUT – A cease-fire came into effect in Syria at sunset Monday in the latest attempt led by the United States and Russian Federation to bring some calm in the 5½-year civil war.
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.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in the coastal city of Antalya on Tuesday the Syrian government broke the cease-fire immediately after it came into effect the previous evening. But, Assad’s forces can continue air strikes against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked insurgents from the group once known as the Nusra Front. His remarks came just hours ahead of the start of a cease-fire brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.
He says: “We call on all Syrians to turn toward reconciliation”.
Lavrov said Moscow “has nothing to hide” and wants the U.N. Security Council to formally approve the Syria truce deal as well. A copy of the letter was given to The Associated Press by an opposition official.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said while the start of the ceasefire looked good, “it is far too early to draw any definitive conclusions”.
Within an hour after the latest cease-fire began at sundown on Monday, residents in rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo city said government helicopters had dropped barrel bombs and troops were shelling the road meant to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged residents there.
In the northern city of Aleppo, where the fighting has concentrated over the past few months, opposition activists said rebel-held parts of the city were calm on Tuesday morning but many people were still hunkering down in their homes, fearful of going out.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some air attacks and shelling were reported in the first hours of the truce, but said the “majority of Syrian provinces have witnessed silence” since the cease-fire began Monday night.
Compounding the situation, a group of 21 rebel factions issued a statement Friday in which they warned against targeting al-Qaida-linked militants.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees reported some shelling in Aleppo and the southern region of Quneitra, while state media said there were “breaches” of the truce by rebels in the contested city of Aleppo.
The video comes as a U.S-Russian brokered cease-fire is starting to take hold in parts of Syria.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pledge came at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Monday and the Turkish leader says the aid will be delivered along specific routes at sundown.
The cease-fire deal hammered out between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva last week allows the Syrian government to continue to strike at the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants, until the U.S. and Russia take over the task in one week’s time.
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Still, other rebel factions showed deep uncertainty.
