A ceasefire brokered by Russian Federation and the United States took effect in Syria at sundown Monday, but there was deep skepticism over whether it would take hold.
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The agreement also includes the creation of a demilitarized zone around Syria’s Aleppo to deliver humanitarian aid to the city, as well as close coordination of Russian and U.S. airstrikes against the so-called “Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham”, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, and ISIL terrorist groups operating in Syria.
Britain’s former foreign secretary, David Miliband, now chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, said the deal offered the best chance of a ceasefire since the five-year civil war began.
Rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad have yet to publicly declare whether they will respect the ceasefire, but rebel sources have indicated they will.
The Syrian army said a seven-day “regime of calm” would be established across the country, but that it reserved the right to respond to any violation by “armed groups”.
Russian Federation has said it covers “all” of Syria but “terrorists” will still be targeted.
The source said the acceptance had already been communicated to the United States, which finalised the proposed package with Russian Federation on Friday.
An activist from the Aleppo Media Center – an opposition-affiliated activist group that works to document the conflict – told CNN in rebel-held east Aleppo that he read Assad’s symbolic presence in a formerly opposition-held area as a sign to “that this could be our fate someday”.
To get aid into besieged Aleppo, cut off last week by regime forces for the second time in two months, a “demilitarised zone” would be established around the Castello Road into the city.
When the sun sets Monday over Syria, the country’s war-weary residents will be praying that fighting will stop for a full 48 hours, in line with a hard-fought ceasefire brokered Friday by the U.S. and Russian Federation.
The U.N. offices in Geneva, where de Mistura is based, was closed Monday to honor the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Ahmad Primo, an opposition media activist in the contested city of Aleppo, says airstrikes on the city’s rebel-held eastern district “have not let up” since the morning. Over 2,000 people have been killed in fighting over the past 40 days in the city, including 700 civilians and 160 children, according to a Syrian human rights group.
In a message marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Ahrar al-Sham’s deputy leader Ali al-Omar said Syria’s “people can not accept half-solutions”.
Erdogan said Turkey’s Red Crescent, along with the country’s disaster and emergency management agency, will try to deliver aid to the northern Syrian towns of al-Rai and Jarablus.
The State Department says the new cease-fire in Syria includes no provisions for the USA and Russian Federation to approve Syrian government airstrikes.
Hardline Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham attacked the terms of the deal Sunday, saying it would only strengthen Assad’s hand, while a representative of a Free Syrian Army (FSA) group called Fastaqim Union told CNN that it too had sent a message to the United States expressing concerns about the deal.
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Rebel groups have already voiced reservations about the ceasefire proposal, which comes as Assad appears to have the stronger position in the conflict.
