Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russian Federation, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Advertisement
Fighting appeared to stop across most areas of western Syria on Saturday after a landmark “cessation of hostilities” came into effect under a U.S.-Russian plan which warring sides in the five-year conflict have accepted. The truce agreement, however, does not cover the IS, Syria’s al-Qaida branch known as the Nusra Front, or any other militia designated as a terrorist group by the U.N. Security Council.
Obama reiterated that the ceasefire would not apply to the Islamic State group and admitted that other groups, including those tied with Al-Qaeda, would likely continue to fight.
In the run-up to the midnight deadline, US President Barack Obama warned the Syrian government and Russian Federation “the world will be watching”.
Moreover, de Mistura has said he intends to resume peace negotiations that quickly collapsed earlier this month because pro-government forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, made startling advances against rebels in northern Syria near the city of Aleppo.
“It should not be possible for the regime and its allies to exploit the… truce by continuing hostilities against moderate opposition factions under the excuse of fighting terrorism”, the panel said in a published statement Friday. The Kremlin described the calls as an effort to explain the substance of the U.S.-Russia-brokered ceasefire.
Still image taken from aerial footage released by Russia’s Defence Ministry on February 11, 2016, shows airstrikes, carried out by the country’s air force and hitting what the Defence Ministry says was Islamic State militants’ stronghold, in Latakia, Syria.
An unusual quiet descended on major cities in Syria, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding there were brief exceptions including some unexplained explosions reported in the north. Damascus has agreed to the deal, as has the main opposition alliance, though it is only ready to commit for two weeks given its deep reservations. “It’s going to be extremely challenging, especially at the outset, to make this work”, Power said.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state-run Anadolu Agency that Saudi aircraft would arrive “today or tomorrow” at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey to join the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told Reuters on Wednesday it would abide by the plan to halt the fighting but reserved the right to respond if attacked.
The rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma was hit 40 times on Friday, the observatory said, along with other areas east of the capital, killing at least eight people, including three women and four children. But the World Food Program said later it faced “technical difficulties” and indicated the drop may have been off target.
Advertisement
Nusra Front on Friday called for an escalation in fighting, urging insurgents to intensify their attacks against Assad and his allies in a call that added to the dangers facing the fragile agreement.
