Syria truce largely holds as aid preparations begin
A new ceasefire in Syria brought a full day with no combat deaths in the war between President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents, a monitoring body said on September 13, as efforts to deliver aid to besieged areas got cautiously under way.
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| Rebel fighters stand in a damaged building in Quneitra countryside, Syria September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir |
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had not received a single report of combatants or civilians killed by fighting in any areas covered by the truce.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and Russia, is supported by countries that back Assad and his opponents, and marks the second attempt this year to halt a war that has frustrated peace efforts since fighting began more than five years ago.
The Observatory estimates the death toll since the start of the conflict at abound 430,000, in line with U.N. estimates. About 11 million people have been made homeless in the world's worst refugee crisis.
The ceasefire marks the biggest bet yet by Washington that it can work with Moscow to end a war that President Vladimir Putin transformed a year ago when he sent warplanes to join the fight on Assad's side.
Moscow and Washington have agreed to share targeting information for strikes against fighters from Islamic State and the former Syrian branch of al Qaeda, the first time the Cold War foes have fought together since World War Two.
The Observatory said the most intense fighting since the ceasefire began took place on September 13 night in the village of Maan in Hama province. Insurgents operating in the Hama area included jihadists and nationalist rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner.
It was not immediately clear if the rebels involved in the fighting were parties to the ceasefire.
A Syrian military source said armed groups had broken the ceasefire at 6 p.m. (10.00 a.m. ET) in Maan, attacking army positions with machine guns. Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the fighting could be a serious threat to the ceasefire if it did not stop.
A senior State Department official clarified that all groups except Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and Islamic State had to abide by the agreement.
"Our current understanding is that the only groups that are eligible to be targeted during this period are ISIS and al-Nusra Front," the official told a conference call with reporters.
Outside the scope of the truce, Turkey said on September 13 that air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition had killed three fighters from Islamic State.
The agreement has been accepted by Assad and, far more reluctantly, by most of the groups that oppose him.
The international community's first goal is to deliver aid to civilians in Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the war, which has been divided for years and where the opposition area is under siege.
