WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States and Russian Federation have persuaded Syria’s government and moderate rebels to extend the country’s fragile truce to the northern city of Aleppo, the State Department said Wednesday, although sporadic clashes continue.
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“It is critical that Russian Federation redouble its efforts to influence the regime to abide fully by the cessation”, the State Department spokesman said in a statement announcing the ceasefire.
“We look to Russian Federation … to press for the Assad regime’s compliance with this effort, and the United States will do its part with the opposition”, Wednesday’s statement said.
United States chief diplomat John Kerry threatened Assad with “consequences” if Damascus did not meet the new ceasefire being discussed between Washington and Moscow.
But Kerry said he still hoped diplomatic efforts could restore a nationwide February 27 ceasefire to include Aleppo, which has felt the brunt of increased fighting in recent weeks. The U.N. Security Council convened an urgent meeting Wednesday on the violence in Aleppo in response to a request from Britain and France.
Days later, rocket attacks targeting government-held areas in Aleppo killed at least 17 people Monday, state media reported. Reports in Washington suggest that this may mean the United States or its allies in the region are stepping up military supplies and training for the rebels.
Rebel groups that are not part of Syrian ceasefire have mingled with the opposition in Aleppo and should be separated to allow the full implementation of ceasefire, Mark Toner said. Shells slammed into hospitals and residential areas on both sides of the divided city, plunging it into renewed violence that quickly escalated to levels unseen in months.
Also Wednesday, the Islamic State group said it has advanced in the strategic Shaer gas fields in the central Homs province, overrunning 13 government checkpoints and capturing a Syrian soldier.
CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan reports the USA and Russian militaries hammered out a deal to delineate areas in Aleppo that are still fair game for attack such as places where al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is in control.
The Syrian army says it will apply a 48-hour truce to the city of Aleppo, in the north of the country, after days of intense fighting with rebel forces.
However, Bashar al-Assad’s forces violated the deal with airstrikes and ground attacks.
But Churkin countered that armed Sunni opposition groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam, have joined forces with the Nusra Front to seize Assad-controlled territory in Aleppo.
The expansion went into effect on Wednesday just after midnight in Damascus (02:00 GMT), the State Department said, noting an “overall decrease in violence” since then despite some continued fighting.
A supervisor of United Nations aid says a surge in fighting in Syria, particularly in Aleppo, “is creating new areas with endless suffering” that aid providers can’t reach.
Temporary local ceasefires have been put in place in two areas of Syria but those have not been extended to Aleppo.
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Earlier this week Morning Edition spoke with New York Times correspondent Declan Walsh, who recently visited Aleppo.
