Ban says Syrian truce holds ‘by and large’

But accusations of breaches by both sides threaten to torpedo the cease-fire, which aims at bringing back the Syrian government and the opposition to peace talks in Geneva next week.

“Firstly, in the run up to this cessation of hostilities there was a dramatic increase in the intensiveness of the bombardment, of Russian aerial bombardment and also of the regime warplanes of Bashar al-Assad”, she says.

Ban said he had received a letter from a main Syrian opposition group “expressing concern” about violations but said containing them was the key, in part, to ensure continued delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrians. Al-Jubeir also accused Syrian forces of violating the cease-fire. Russia’s defence ministry declined to comment.

The 5-year-old war in Syria has killed about 470,000 people and displaced 11 million, creating the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The government, whose forces are backed by Russian air power, has said it is abiding by the agreement.

Insurgents and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said war planes struck at least six towns and villages in west and north Aleppo and a village in the central Hama province. The group did not say whether the warplanes were Russian or Syrian. It said the attack took place on Sunday and some 40 IS positions were targeted.

“We are awaiting the response of states to these violations, the situation is in the balance now and self-restraint will not last long”, colonel Fares al Bayoush told Reuters.

Meslet said the opposition would like to see the truce “last for ever” and that it was the “responsibility of the United States to stop any violations”. The opposition fears they will use this as a pretext to target other rebel groups.

Jubeir said on Sunday that Syria’s government and its ally Russian Federation had violated the truce, and that there would be an alternate plan if it became clear Damascus and its allies were not serious about the ceasefire. He gave no details.

The agreement does not include jihadist groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front and Russian Federation has made clear it intends to keep bombing them.

Muslat, who is spokesman for the opposition’s High Negotiating Committee (HNC), said it was waiting for answers about how the cessation of hostilities in Syria was being monitored, particularly since there was no map with a common understanding of the location of various fighting groups. The areas that were targeted do not have ISIS or al Nusra presence, he said.

According to the White Helmets, a civil defense group, one strike killed a pregnant woman and wounded 12 others, including seven children. In the city of Jisr al Shuquour, three aerial raids caused civilian casualties. Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said.

“I think in many ways the truce has positively surprised many people by lasting for a few days-let’s put it this way-so far”, said Lina Khatib, a Syria analyst and senior research associate with the Arab Reform Initiative, a think tank in Paris.

The second day of a partial truce in Syria was marred on Sunday by a number of airstrikes and artillery attacks, the warring sides reported, demonstrating the challenges of even a limited deal. It said that the shelling came from hills close to the Turkish border “where terrorists mostly from Nusra Front deploy”.

Retuers reported that the first delivery would go to rebel-held Muadhamiya, south-west of Damascus, on Monday.

Syrian state media said armed groups had fired dozens of mortar rounds in Latakia province on Sunday.

The letter, signed by HNC head Riad Hijab, also attacked Russian Federation for conducting 26 air strikes on areas falling within the ceasefire. The footage shows plumes of smoke rising into the sky.