Intra-Syria Peace Talks to Resume March 7

It lists about 30 areas in need of urgent aid deliveries, including eastern and western rural Aleppo and the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, which is under siege by Islamic State jihadists.

The truce is the culmination of new diplomatic efforts that reflect a battlefield dramatically changed since Russian Federation joined the war in September with air strikes to prop up Assad.

WFP said the debriefing with the crew and partners on the ground in Deir el-Zour has revealed that due to changing weather conditions and unexpected high winds over the area, 10 of the 21 food pallets that were airdropped drifted away and are now unaccounted for. It’s a criminal gang pretending to be a state, said one Syrian refugee.

Operation centers in Moscow, Washington, Amman, Geneva and the northwestern Syrian city of Latakia, were collecting information on any truce violations and will share them with the United States and Russian Federation, which are responsible for addressing the incidents, de Mistura added.

In the northern province of Raqqa, IS fighters stormed the border town of Tal Abyad and the nearby village of Suluk that were captured months ago by Kurdish fighters, according to a Syrian rebel official. Lavrov said in comments carried by Russian news agencies that there is no alternative to the cease-fire deal.

During a call with journalists, President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied accusations made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that Russian Federation launched airstrikes over the rebel-held town of Douma on Thursday evening.

“The coming days will be critical and the world will be watching”, he said.

The cessation of hostilities between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and rebel forces excludes the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, which control large swathes of territory.

Keaten reported from Geneva. He added that it would also be an opportunity to boost humanitarian aid relief.

A spokesman for rebels in southern Syria predicted Daraya would be the first place where the truce would collapse.

In order to promote the implementation of the cessation of hostilities, a Cease-fire Task Force co-chaired by the United States and Russian Federation has been established under U.N. auspices.

The cease-fire is to go into effect on midnight Friday.

The opposition umbrella, HNC, said in a statement that the Syrian “regime and its allies should not exploit the (truce) and continue with their hostilities against opposition factions under the pretext of fighting terrorists”.

A ceasefire, described as Syria’s best hope for peace in five years of fighting, has come into effect.

The arrangement does not apply to ISIS or the al-Nusra Front – terrorist groups, both.

“Russia is fully observing its obligations under the cease-fire”, he said. Saudi Arabia and Turkey may intensify weapons shipments to the rebels or decide to take part in a ground offensive in Syria, ostensibly against the Islamic State group.

“It is clear that after years of barbarity against his people, many will not stop fighting until Assad is out of power”, he said.

Sillo and the main Kurdish militia in Syria, the YPG, said some of the IS fighters came from Turkey.

Davutoglu spoke on Turkish TV on Thursday.

The monitoring group said the air raids were conducted as the Syrian government’s artillery shelled the area, which is a stronghold of the Army of Islam rebel group.