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Government, rebels clash in Syria, hours after U.S.-Russia pact
The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his allies Russian Federation and Iran endorsed the deal, and Syrian opposition groups said Sunday they will abide by the deal despite deep reservations.
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But there have been signs of greater harmony between Ankara and Moscow on Syria since a June deal to normalise their own ties following the crisis over the shooting down of a Russian war plane.
More air strikes hit Aleppo and Idlib province on Sunday after scores of people were killed in aerial bombardment on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear who carried out the raids, and said some bodies “were burned beyond recognition”.
Kerry’s negotiating partner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, confirmed the agreement and said it could help expand the counter terrorism fight and aid deliveries to Syrian civilians under United Nations auspices that have been stalled for weeks.
A ceasefire agreement between Russian Federation and the US was previously reached in February, but fell apart within weeks, CNN reports.
Syrian opposition spokesman Bassma Kodmani gave the deal a cautious welcome.
“What truce, when the regime commits a massacre in Idlib?” said Ahmad Saud, commander of the USA -backed Division 13 brigade, on Twitter.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced almost half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
It also promises improved humanitarian aid access and joint military targeting of banned Islamist groups.
To get aid into Aleppo, a “demilitarised zone” would be established around the Castello Road into the city.
Russian Federation and the U.S. will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups, including so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (known until recently as the Nusra Front).
Washington has been tasked with persuading “moderate” rebels to break away from the Nusra Front and other extremist groups.
“We will do our part”, she said.
“In all the previous ceasefires, we saw the regime had no commitment to them and it was ignoring all the terms of these agreements”, fighter Abo Alith said.
The rebel-militant alliance is most pronounced in Idlib province, site of Saturday’s deadly air strikes.
Others tried to lift a bloodied shopper who had collapsed on the ground as a fire raged in an open-air clothes market.
The army attacked rebel-held areas, both sides said, pushing to maximise gains before the ceasefire deadline.
At one point in the Geneva negotiating session, which lasted more than 13 hours, Lavrov said he was considering “calling it a day” on talks, expressing frustration with what he described as an hours-long wait for a U.S. response.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the deal but said it was “vital that the regime in Damascus now delivers on its obligations”.
Turkey, which is a leading backer of the rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and the European Union have welcomed the deal, but warned further action is needed.
“This is just the beginning of our new relations”, Lavrov said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the new agreement between Washington and Moscow, describing their negotiations as a hard process “due to differing interests”.
If the truce holds from Monday, Russia and the United States will begin seven days of preparatory work to set up a “joint implementation centre”, where they will share information to distinguish territory controlled by Nusra from that held by other rebel groups.
The Syrian people could be on the cusp of a breakthrough in the five-year civil war, with a ceasefire due to take effect late tonight (AEST).
The Israeli strike targeted artillery positions of the Syrian regime in response to “a projectile” which hit the northern Golan, causing no injuries or damages, an army statement said.
Delivery of humanitarian supplies into the besieged city of Aleppo will resume and attacks on Syrian civilians by government forces will end.
The Iranian official also called on the worldwide community “to confront the Takfiri extremist terrorism seriously, resolutely, unconditionally and relentlessly”.
Turkey, which has sent dozens of tanks and hundreds of troops into Syria in an unprecedented incursion, on Saturday welcomed a deal agreed by the USA and Russian Federation for a ceasefire in its conflict-torn neighbour.
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There were similar events in July and previously.