Disturbed intermittently with reports of scattered airstrikes and bombings but with an overall the slowdown in fighting, Syria’s fragile ceasefire has entered its second day.
The cease fire in the 5 year civil war in Syria has been regarded as the most successful effort yet to reduce the bloodshed in the civil war and the cease fire appeared to be holding.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, warplanes, believed to be either Syrian or Russian, bombed seven villages in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama. A monitor claimed that several airstrikes hit central and northern Syria on Sunday.
While the partial cessation of hostilities appeared to be broadly intact, the Russian coordinating unit in Syria said there had been nine breaches of the ceasefire. One person had been killed in Aleppo province, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitor said.
“(Saturday) was the first day that people could really go out and walk in the streets,” a Syrian opposition leader told the media.
Separate command centres are being used by the US and Russia to monitor the ceasefire. Whether some attacks on either the Islamic State (Isis) or the al-Nusra Front, two jihadi organisations excluded from the deal, are permissible, is the responsibility of the two superpowers. While maps drawn up by the US and Russia do not show exactly the same territories that are excluded from the ceasefire, the two groups occupy at least half of Syria.
Both the Super powers claim that the real test of the deal will be whether they can not only agree that a breach has occurred but also prevent a repetition while accepting that there will be contested ceasefire breaches.
The aim of this measure is to create a conducive atmosphere in the war hit region before the resumption of peace talks in Geneva on 7 March
Tweets urging Syrians to report ceasefire breaches so that they can be investigated and adjudicated were posted by both Russia and the US.
Battles between Isis and the Syrian Kurds operating under the banner of the YPG, People’s Protection Units comprised much of the violence reported over the weekend. Isis would come under additional pressure due ot the ceasefire, hopes both Russia and the US.
Whether areas covered by the truce were affected by the latest rais is still unclear. Only one of the villages, Kafr Hamra in Aleppo province, is controlled by al-Nusra and the others are in the hands of non-jihadi rebels according to Abdel Rahman.
A correspondent said that Saturday night passed without any sound of fighting or air raids in Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
Government forces had fired mortars, rockets and machine guns in Hama province and warplanes had been a constant presence in the sky, said Faish al-Nasr, a group affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which has backed the truce.
“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.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
The cease fire in the 5 year civil war in Syria has been regarded as the most successful effort yet to reduce the bloodshed in the civil war and the cease fire appeared to be holding.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, warplanes, believed to be either Syrian or Russian, bombed seven villages in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama. A monitor claimed that several airstrikes hit central and northern Syria on Sunday.
While the partial cessation of hostilities appeared to be broadly intact, the Russian coordinating unit in Syria said there had been nine breaches of the ceasefire. One person had been killed in Aleppo province, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitor said.
“(Saturday) was the first day that people could really go out and walk in the streets,” a Syrian opposition leader told the media.
Separate command centres are being used by the US and Russia to monitor the ceasefire. Whether some attacks on either the Islamic State (Isis) or the al-Nusra Front, two jihadi organisations excluded from the deal, are permissible, is the responsibility of the two superpowers. While maps drawn up by the US and Russia do not show exactly the same territories that are excluded from the ceasefire, the two groups occupy at least half of Syria.
Both the Super powers claim that the real test of the deal will be whether they can not only agree that a breach has occurred but also prevent a repetition while accepting that there will be contested ceasefire breaches.
The aim of this measure is to create a conducive atmosphere in the war hit region before the resumption of peace talks in Geneva on 7 March
Tweets urging Syrians to report ceasefire breaches so that they can be investigated and adjudicated were posted by both Russia and the US.
Battles between Isis and the Syrian Kurds operating under the banner of the YPG, People’s Protection Units comprised much of the violence reported over the weekend. Isis would come under additional pressure due ot the ceasefire, hopes both Russia and the US.
Whether areas covered by the truce were affected by the latest rais is still unclear. Only one of the villages, Kafr Hamra in Aleppo province, is controlled by al-Nusra and the others are in the hands of non-jihadi rebels according to Abdel Rahman.
A correspondent said that Saturday night passed without any sound of fighting or air raids in Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
Government forces had fired mortars, rockets and machine guns in Hama province and warplanes had been a constant presence in the sky, said Faish al-Nasr, a group affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which has backed the truce.
“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.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
