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Ready to help with Syria ceasefire: Assad tells Putin

It remains shaky at best and major questions over enforcement are still unresolved.

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The United States and Russian Federation this week announced a plan to halt fighting, giving combatants until noon on Friday (1000 GMT) to say whether they would agree to the “cessation of hostilities”, which would begin on Saturday.

Around 100 rebel factions have agreed to respect the truce, Syrian opposition umbrella group the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said.

The source said the mortar shells came from the neighborhoods of Jubar and Duma, and called on Syrians living in those rebel-held neighborhoods to help stop the shelling.

“The Americans are taking note of our concerns and we are waiting for their replies”, Al Meslet said.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously demanded that all parties to the civil war in Syria comply with the terms of a US-Russian deal on a “cessation of hostilities” due to take effect at midnight local time.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said any use of force must be proportionate and a last resort if fresh fighting breaks the cessation of hostilities.

On Tuesday, IS seized Khanaser and surrounding hills, severing the government’s main land route to the city.

On being asked if Moscow also has a backup plan of its own, Peskov said that the current focus was to implement the ceasefire agreements in Syria and not to prepare “plan B”, as mentioned by Kerry.

On Wednesday, Assad and Putin discussed the truce agreement in a phone call.

According to Turkey and other members of the anti-Daesh coalition, both Moscow and Damascus have been attacking moderate opposition under the guise of fighting terrorists such as Daesh and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

A Syrian shopkeeper waits for customers next to paintings of of President Bashar Assad, and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, center, at the popular Souk Tawil old market in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. Ru… He did not elaborate.

Shortly after midnight, there was calm in many parts of the country, the monitor said.

The Kremlin spokesperson for his part insisted it was “premature” to speak of any other plans.

Russian Deputy Foreign Ministry Gennady Gatilov told the council that “we now have a real chance to end violence and to step up our collective combat against terrorism”.

Syria’s state-run news agency reported some shelling by armed groups in Damascus during the day, according to The Associated Press, and rebel forces have alleged the Syrian government has breached the deal in some areas.

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it was quiet in the north of Latakia province and in the central province of Homs.

Fadi Dirani  AFP | Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly drops a barrel bomb over Daraya