IS terrorists kill three soldiers in Syria

‘It has the ability to stick, provided the regime and the opposition both meet their obligations, which we – and we expect other supporting countries – will strongly encourage them to do’.

The agreement is set to come into effect in stages beginning with a limited cease-fire Monday night that allows the Syrian government to continue to strike at al-Qaida-linked militants, until the USA and Russian Federation take over the task in one week’s time.

The Syrian government has told Moscow it is prepared to comply with the deal, and opposition forces have also said they will fulfil the peace plan’s requirements if the government demonstrates it is serious about ending the bloodshed. That will not be easy based on the boost in bombing apparent since the ceasefire was announced.

The agreement envisages joint US-Russian military strikes against militant groups in Syria, including Daesh.

Yousef said she expected a city captured by Kurdish-allied forces last month to join the federal system, though the Turkish-backed rebels are also laying claim to it.

“The free Syrian factions under the Euphrates Shield banner will announce their commitment to the agreement, of course”, he said.

Ivanov highlights that Washington has apparently realized that its plan to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed.

Citing “informed sources”, it said “the entire agreement was reached with the knowledge of the Syrian government”.

And Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi backed the deal on Sunday.

Speaking at an August 26 press conference in Geneva with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Kerry played down the US relationship with the YPG, speaking of a “limited engagement” with “a component of Kurdish fighters on a limited basis”.

It would see fighting and indiscriminate air attacks halt across the country starting at sundown on Monday for a period of 48 hours, which could then be renewed.

Thirty people were killed by barrel bombs dropped by army helicopters on the besieged rebel-held east of the city, and jets, either Syrian or Russian, bombed rebel-held towns along important insurgent supply routes.

America’s formal position is that it opposes the Assad regime, that it views Turkey as a close ally and that it arms the Kurds in their fight against ISIS.

Rebels have been fighting alongside Jabhat Fatah Al Sham around Aleppo as they try to break a government siege that was reimposed this month. Instead, according to a copy of a letter from Washington’s Syria envoy Michael Ratney, obtained by Reuters, Washington wants the Syrian government and Russian Federation to “avoid bombing areas where more moderate insurgent groups are operating close to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front”. About 2,200 people, including some 700 civilians, have been killed there since July, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence in Syria.

It is not yet clear who conducted the air strikes.