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Syrian Opposition says government violated truce

Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the Nusra Front, and Daesh, are not party to the agreement, and Obama has pledged to continue to strike Daesh without pause.

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Nearly 100 rebel factions have agreed to respect the truce, the Syrian opposition umbrella group the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) says.

Russian monitors said that overall the ceasefire is holding up, but some of the violations were attributed to the rebels.

The break in fighting, brokered by the United States and Russian Federation, began at midnight local time on Saturday, (2200 GMT on Friday).

“Compared to the previous days it is nothing, but we consider that they broke the truce”, Mohamed Rasheed, head of the group’s media office, told Reuters.

Rebels also accused government forces of intermittent “truce violations”.

United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura was “in contact with the Russians and the Syrian regime on this matter to reach an agreement that would limit or end military operations against the moderate Syrian opposition and focus instead on Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS) and Al-Nusra”, Jubeir said.

War planes attacked six towns in Syria’s northern Aleppo province early on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, a day after a cessation of hostilities agreement took effect.

Critically important is Russian Federation and the Syrian government’s adherence to the deal, Obama said.

It was not immediately clear if the warplanes struck areas controlled by al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, known as the Nusra Front.

“There needs to be some form critical mass for the opposition to be able to go to the talks, and for that they need the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of humanitarian access”, the diplomat said.

An elderly man holds beads as he sits at a street in the rebel-held neighborhood of Tishreen, after a ceasefire that went into effect in Damascus, Syria, February 27, 2016.

“Let’s pray that this works because frankly this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace”, he said, according to a Reuters report.

If the cessation holds, de Mistura said he plans to start a second round of peace talks between the warring parties on March 7.

Meanwhile, the Russian military operating in Syria said it has information about an attack on the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad from Turkish territories with the use of large-caliber artillery and has asked the United States for an explanation.

The YPG, which Turkey considers a terrorist group for its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), captured Tel Abyad from ISIL past year in an offensive backed by U.S.-led air strikes.

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The Syrian government and 97 rebel and militant groups said they will abide by the cease-fire.

Truce gives Syrian children chance to play