Russian Federation has supported the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the conflict’s onset, while the USA has supported the opposition.
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The deal, hammered out by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov last week in Geneva, officially came into effect at sunset Monday.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some air attacks and shelling were reported in the first hours of the truce on Monday evening.
The nationwide truce is the second major attempt by world powers to halt – or at least curb – the fighting that has killed almost half a million people, decimated cities and infrastructure and spawned a humanitarian crisis stretching from the Middle East to Europe.
The U.N. stopped tracking deaths in the Syria conflict a year ago. About 11 million people have been made homeless in the world’s worst refugee crisis.
US officials expressed concerns that Moscow might continue to target USA -allied opposition forces, claiming they are working with the al-Qaida-linked group, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously known as the Nusra Front.
The Observatory meanwhile said more than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2011.
But that group has been playing a key role alongside other rebels in areas like Aleppo, so separating its fighters from those who are protected by the ceasefire may prove to be the most hard task of the coming days.
It was not immediately clear if the rebels involved in the fighting were parties to the ceasefire.
Under the terms of a Russian- and US-brokered ceasefire, the regime is allowed to continue fighting against terror groups among Syrian rebels.
The Nusra Front changed its name in July, announcing it cut links with the al-Qaida terror network.
The Syrian opposition will not separate itself from Nusra Front elements if Damascus and Moscow violate the ceasefire agreement, a senior USA administration official told reporters.
Al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate has criticized the U.S. -Russia cease-fire deal, saying its aim is to defeat Islamic jihad and weaken insurgents in Syria.
The truce deal is meant to see both government forces and rebels pull back from the key route to allow aid to enter rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
But he told reporters: “There is no doubt a significant drop in violence”.
According to Russian Federation, which is a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and sent in its troops to monitor the truce in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian government did not respond to the provocations and has “fully” respected the ceasefire.
The deal, which has been in the making for weeks, ostensibly entails the Syrian government stopping bombing and limiting its airstrikes to areas agreed upon by the United States and Russian Federation. “We are eagerly hoping and expecting the government to issue them very soon”. Yet, the reports of violence are far less intense and frequent than usual.
“Syrian government troops have completely stopped firing” except in extremist-held areas, but “the same can not be said for armed units of the moderate opposition controlled by the United States”, said Viktor Poznikhir, a senior Russian military officer.
One convoy with around 20 trucks carrying aid crossed into northern Syria from the Turkish border town of Cilvegozu, according to a Reuters witness. A Turkish official said they carried mostly food and flour.
Syria’s government said on Tuesday it will reject any aid deliveries to Aleppo that are not coordinated through itself and the United Nations, particularly aid from Turkey, state media reported.
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Spokesman John Kirby said later there were no provisions under the nationwide truce for U.S.
