Moscow sees progress ahead of Syria truce

It was not immediately clear if that meant that the airdrop had missed its target, but Luescher said: “High altitude drops are extremely challenging to carry out and take more than one trial to develop full accuracy”.

“It must be known that the ceasefire is valid in Syria”, Davutoglu said in televised remarks in the central Anatolian province of Konya.

The assault on the town took place just hours after a US-and-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into effect in the war-torn country. “I am absolutely fine and have no further comment”, McGarry said.

The agreement was announced Monday after President Barack Obama spoke with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin by telephone, capping weeks of intense diplomacy to stem the violence. The moderate opposition also claimed that Russian Federation and Syrian regime would strike at them, claiming they were Al Nusra or Daesh terrorists, as these two groups are not included in the truce.

Commentators see Davutoğlu’s impetuous reaction to the news of Syrian Arab Army’s advances near the border with Turkey and the imminent collapse of radical mercenaries as yet another proof of Ankara’s support for infamous terrorists, namely ISIS. Also at the press conference was his top humanitarian adviser, Jan Egeland. Washington invariably points out there is distinctions to be made between the two.

The Syrian government and a leading opposition bloc have agreed to the cessation of hostilities set to begin at midnight.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday that his country will not abide by the upcoming Syrian cease-fire if threatened.

Davutoglu spoke on Turkish TV on Thursday.

Ibrahim Kalin also said that while Turkey had no plans for a unilateral ground operation in Syria, it would respond to any security threats in line with its rules of engagement.

Warplanes on Friday are launching airstrikes against rebel-held positions in the suburbs of the Syrian capital and near the northern city of Aleppo.

The SANA news agency says government troops on Friday took three villages near the town of Khanaser, which they recaptured from the IS group the previous day.

It says eight people died on Wednesday when shells fired by Saudi and Turkey-backed “terrorists” struck the Jamilieh district in Aleppo city. On Tuesday, the Islamic State seized Khanaser and surrounding hills, severing the government’s main land route to the city.

“In Damascus and its countryside… for the first time in years, calm prevails”, said Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.