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If truce holds, Syria talks soon

Russian Federation has carried out previous airstrikes against U.S.-backed rebels under the pretense of fighting the Islamic State.

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Syria’s main opposition grouping recorded 15 violations by government troops and allied forces on the first day of a landmark truce, a spokesman told reporters Sunday, as Russian Federation accused Turkey of breaking the ceasefire.

The Syrian government and 97 rebel and militant groups said they will abide by the cease-fire.

Meslet said the opposition would like to see the truce “last for ever” and that it was the “responsibility of the United States to stop any violations”.

The letter, signed by HNC head Riad Hijab, also attacked Russian Federation for conducting “26 air strikes on areas falling within the ceasefire”. He said dozens of Daesh fighters had been killed.

“We are honouring an obligation to observe the ceasefire in full”.

Analysts have also questioned whether the ceasefire can be effective on Syria’s complex battlefields, as it does not include jihadists from the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra Front.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad and many of Syria’s fractious rebel groups agreed to the deal, which was brokered by Russian Federation and the US and endorsed by the United Nations.

Map showing zones controlled by different forces on the ground, casualties in the crisis and the number of refugees in neighbouring countries since the start of the conflict.

While not directly addressing the Tel Abyad attack, 14 Turkish F-16s patrolled the Turkish-Syrian border on Friday, Turkish military said.

“Over the past 24 hours, nine instances of violations of cessation of hostilities have been uncovered”, Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, head of the country’s coordination centre in Syria, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

In Damascus, student Mehdi al-Ani spent Sunday at his university’s cafe with friends.

“I think this is the first time we’ve woken up without the sound of shelling”. “The ceasefire will continue, God willing”, he said.

“There’s something unusual in this silence”.

State TV said Syrian warplanes attacked oil tanker trucks belonging to IS in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

In Aleppo, Syria’s second city, two people were killed and four wounded when shells hit the majority-Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor. The majority of ongoing violence appeared to be at the hands of “Islamic State” (IS) and al-Nusra front terrorists, who were not included in the ceasefire.

As the recriminations fly, Washington urges all sides to be patient.

“Setbacks are inevitable”, a senior USA administration official said.

“Even under the best of circumstances, we don’t expect the violence to end immediately”.

A task force set up to monitor the deal described Saturday’s (February 27) first day as largely successful.

Russian warplanes struck targets in five towns in northern and central Syria on Sunday – the second day of a cessation-of-hostilities agreement between Syria’s Assad regime and opposition forces.

United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to relaunch peace talks on March 7 if the halt in hostilities lasts and more aid is delivered.

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Neighbouring Israel, an arch-foe of Tehran, welcomed the ceasefire but warned it would not accept Iranian “aggression” or the supply of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia supporting Assad.

Steffar de Mistura, UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Syria speaks during a press conference about the cessation of hostilities and the next talks in Geneva between the government and the opposition