Deadly violence raged Saturday in several areas of Syria, shortly after the United States and Russian Federation sealed an ambitious agreement aimed at reducing violence in the country and relaunching a UN-sponsored peace process.
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The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jets believed to be either Syrian or Russian also hit rebel-held towns in the northern Aleppo countryside including Anadan and Hreitan along important insurgent supply routes.
There were also airstrikes in other parts of the Idlib province including near Jisr al-Shughur, Ain Al-Bayda, Hambushia and Bidama. Numerous victims were women and children, according to Western humanitarian organizations.
Turkey, which made a major military incursion into the north of Syria two weeks ago, said it was preparing aid for Aleppo once the truce was in place.
The deal agreed by Moscow and Washington calls for a halt to fighting across the country and increased humanitarian aid for the battered city of Aleppo.
“Most of the injured are in critical conditions due to severe injuries they have sustained and a shortage of surgeons”, Abu Raed told dpa via Facebook message.
At one point in the Geneva negotiating session, which lasted more than 13 hours, Lavrov said he was considering “calling it a day” on talks, expressing frustration with what he described as an hours-long wait for a U.S. response.
According to the local reports, the market was filled with people who were preparing for Eid al-Adha. The LCC said the airstrikes were carried out by Russian warplanes, adding that they left a number of civilians dead or wounded.
Both sides have failed to deliver their ends of the bargain over several previous truces, but the new arrangement goes further by promising a new US-Russian counter-terrorism alliance, only a year after President Barack Obama chastised Russia for a military intervention that US officials said was mainly created to keep Assad in power and target more moderate anti-Assad forces.
Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, which is taking part in Syria’s civil war, says it supports the cease-fire but vows to continue fighting against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’s affiliate.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the ceasefire agreement the United States and Russian Federation announced on Syria…”
The Syrian opposition said it would have to closely study the details of the deal before reaching a decision on whether to abide by it.
However getting Assad’s government and rebel groups to comply with the deal may now be more hard as fighting rages around Aleppo.
“We hope this will be the beginning of the end of the civilians’ ordeal”, HNC member Bassma Kodmani said.
‘Going after Nusra is not a concession to anybody, ‘ US Secretary of State John Kerry said.
Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov have met four times since 26 August – and Moscow has been pressuring the Assad regime to suspend offensive operations against civilian areas and Syria’s armed opposition.
In the past, several cease-fires were brokered-all which failed to hold.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the new agreement between Washington and Moscow, describing their negotiations as a hard process “due to differing interests”.
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Syria’s conflict started with peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011.
