Syria ceasefire remains intact despite apparent government violations

Syrian government warplanes resumed their bombardment of a rebel-held valley near Damascus on Sunday after almost 24 hours with no air raids, a rebel official and monitors said, during the third day of a fragile ceasefire.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes the Syrian government and tracks the conflict from Britain, reported clashes and shelling in pockets around the country, including near the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the central province of Hama.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called the ceasefire a “real opportunity” to find a political solution to a war that has claimed more than 310,000 lives and displaced millions since it began in March 2011 with protests against Assad’s regime. All sides expressed optimism that the latest ceasefire will succeed.

Iran, along with Russian Federation, provides crucial military support to President Assad’s government – which has been boosted after recently taking control of Aleppo. Some of the rebel factions that have signed on to the ceasefire deal actually have links with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and IS – groups that are not included in the truce.

The ceasefire does not extend to terrorist groups like ISIS and the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, or “groups linked to them”, though the definition of that is vague.

Turkey considers it a terrorist organisation.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from Aleppo after a ceasefire earlier this month brokered by Ankara and Moscow.

It was not clear which of the scores of rebel groups scattered across Syria had agreed to the cease-fire, nor whether those that had not been consulted would abide by it.

Ahrar al-Sham, which said it had “reservations” about the deal, and Jaysh al-Islam are Islamist groups that Russian Federation has previously described as terrorist organisations.

The government has escalated its aerial campaign against the area since the fall of Aleppo and could use the pretext of combating terrorism to continue strikes there despite a truce.

United Nations envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura welcomed the agreement and said he hoped that the accord would save civilian lives and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance across Syria.

In Eastern Ghouta’s Hammuriyeh area, Syrian activists marked the New Year by decorating a tree with lights and pictures of war victims, an AFP photographer said. Council members stressed that they see the Astana meeting as an important step in the process toward the reconciliation of the Syrian conflict. Syrian opposition also welcomed the cease-fire.

Clashes and air strikes continued in some areas since the nationwide ceasefire, brokered by Russian Federation and Turkey began on Friday.

Syrian Kurds may be allowed a semi-autonomous territory in the northeast, much like Kurdistan in Iraq. Past nationwide truces, hammered out between Russian Federation and the United States, have quickly collapsed.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, pointedly said the USA could join in talks only after Mr Trump’s inauguration.