A USA and Russia-brokered ceasefire dubbed by Washington as perhaps the “last chance to save Syria” entered its first full day Tuesday, amid scepticism over how long it would hold.
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The US and Russian Federation helped secure the 48-hour truce, which came into force at sundown yesterday.
If the truce holds for seven days, the U.S. and Russian Federation will carry out co-ordinated air strikes on militant groups – including so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (known until recently as the Nusra Front).
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”.
The alliance wrote to Washington on Sunday, saying that while it would “cooperate positively”, it was also concerned that the deal would benefit the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Aleppo-based activist Baraa al-Halaby said no aid deliveries, which are also part of the cease-fire deal, have entered the contested area.
The Syrian government and its allies Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement have backed the truce.
John Kerry told reporters at the State Department that the situation in Syria is “a very toxic mix of interests and of agenda” that can only be resolved “step by step”.
He also said the Syrian government must allow deliveries of humanitarian aid into besieged areas, including the rebel-held districts of Aleppo.
Still, other rebel factions showed deep uncertainty. Opposition groups said they had received no response.
Kerry said Assad’s forces aren’t supposed to bomb Syria’s opposition any longer because of the truce that began at sundown Monday, however he said the government could continue going after al-Qaeda-linked militants in certain, unspecified areas. The United States considers Nusra, which said it broke ties with al Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, to still be an affiliate of the terrorist group.
Kerry implored all of Syria’s warring sides to adhere to the ceasefire.
The landmark deal, proposed by the United States and Russian Federation after marathon talks in Geneva on Friday, could also lead to the first joint military operations by Moscow and Washington against terrorists. “It’s about the regime or not”, said Lund.
Syrian President Bashar Assad “is allowed and will be able outside of that area, if the JIC gets set up, to target Nusra, but that will be on strikes agreed upon by Russian Federation and the United States”, Kerry said.
On the ground in Syria, residents hoped for the best.
According to the Guardian the Syrian military announced at the end of the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday that it was ceasing operations.
Salem al-Muslet, spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee opposition umbrella group, demanded “guarantees” on which rebel groups would be targeted.
“Our Red Crescent is working to reach al-Rai and Jarablus as well, in co-ordination with (the Turkish disaster management agency) AFAD”, he said, referring to two Syrian border towns.
If the ceasefire holds, the deal says that Washington and Moscow will begin joint targeting against hardline groups, including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, in a week.
The Syrian civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced more than 5 million to flee the country, spawning an worldwide refugee crisis.
One monitoring group reported five violations occurred in and around Aleppo in the ceasefire’s first hours, while state-run news agency SANA said rebels were responsible for a number of breaches in Aleppo and Homs.
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The group says it has documented 301,781 deaths in Syria, from March 18, 2011, until September 12, 2016, when the latest truce went into effect.
