Assad prayed the special prayers of the Eid al-Adha holiday, or the Feast of Sacrifice, in the town of Daraya, which has recently witnessed the evacuation of rebels, who had been controlling it for almost four years.
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In this photo released on the official Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency, Syrian President Bashar Assad, sixth left, prays the dawn Eid al-Adha prayers at the Saad ibn Muaaz Mosque in Daraya, a blockaded Damascus.
The ceasefire deal, hammered out between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Saturday, was backed by Mr Assad’s government.
The nationwide cessation of hostilities was brokered by the U.S. and Russian Federation.
In a letter to the U.S., the Free Syrian Army said it planned to “co-operate positively” and respect the ceasefire, but wrote that a lack of enforcement mechanisms and a lack of provision for some of the country’s most besieged areas were worrying.
A senior official from the hard-line Ahrar al-Sham faction said the group opposed the deal but would agree to cease hostilities in order to regroup after recent government advances in Aleppo, where more than 2,000 people have died in the past 40 days.
But in the build-up to the start of the truce at sunset, government forces and their allies bombed opposition areas in the country’s north, while al-Qaida-linked militants pushed on with an offensive in southern Syria.
AFP correspondents in Syria’s devastated second city Aleppo, divided between a rebel-held east and regime-controlled west since mid-2012, said fighting appeared to have stopped as the ceasefire took effect.
Both Kerry and Lavrov said the complex plan is the best chance to end the five-year war that has killed more than 290,000 people and seen millions flee to neighbouring countries.
BEIRUT (AP) – Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed on Monday that his government would take back land from “terrorists” and rebuild the country in remarks made just hours before the start of a cease-fire brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.
At least 13 civilians were also killed in unidentified air raids on a town in Idlib province hours before the truce began, the Observatory said.
The attacks by the Syrian military began hours after the cease-fire deal was announced and continued into Sunday.
Questions also remain about how the ceasefire will apply in several parts of the country where the Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, is present.
Al Jazeera reported that the Joint Implementation Center will be tasked with mapping out areas under control of the former al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously called Jabhat al-Nusra, and those of US -backed opposition groups. Assad’s government had earlier indicated it would abide by the negotiated truce.
It did not say when the violence will stop, adding that the US-Russia agreement “was reached with the knowledge and approval of the Syrian government”. Staffan de Mistura said in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday that no statement from his office about the truce was expected before the following afternoon.
But in Aleppo, the northern city that has emerged as the epicenter of the fighting, opposition media activist Mahmoud Raslan said government helicopters dropped crude barrel bombs on a contested neighborhood.
“The armed forces are continuing their work, relentlessly and without hesitation, regardless of internal or external circumstances”, he said. Almost 100 people were killed last Saturday in the air strikes, which continued to rock the Aleppo and Idlib provinces yesterday.
The strikes hit several areas including a market full of shoppers preparing for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Monday.
In August, rebels broke a weeks-long regime siege of the east, but Assad loyalists restored the blockade on September 8.
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“Civilians have no hope anymore”.
