Russia Brokered Syrian Ceasefire Agreement Kicks In

The Security Council unanimously demanded late on Friday that all parties to the conflict comply with terms of the plan.

(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar). A dog drinks water between destroyed buildings in the old city of Homs, Syria, Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.

He said that the implementation of the ceasefire deal will not be easy, there would be violations, but reaching the goal of total cessation of hostilities is possible eventually.

United Nations special envoy Staffan De Mistura said immediate reports indicated “suddenly both Daraa and Damascus had calmed down”.

Nobody expects peace to settle over the nation overnight, De Mistura said.

“If they continue with these violations we will be forced to retaliate accordingly”, he said by phone from southern Turkey.

Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) seized control of a key military base for the Syrian army in the northern Aleppo province on Thursday.

De Mistura had abruptly aborted a first round of talks on February 3 and urged countries in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), led by the United States and Russian Federation, to do more preparatory work.

The shelling came from rebel-controlled neighborhoods in the capital, a military source told the news agency. State media said one person was killed by sniper fire in the same district.

ISIS – also known as Daesh – and the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front have called on their jihadi hordes to keep fighting and even intensify attacks in defiance of the peace plan. SANA says the shells were fired by “terrorist groups” entrenched in Jobar and Douma, two opposition-held Damascus suburbs.

The fragile cease-fire went into effect at midnight but scattered violence and clashes continue.

Rescue workers in the opposition-held area, reporting on their Twitter feed, said there were confirmed civilian casualties but did not say how many.

Officials say that factions have until noon Friday to announce whether or not they intend to take part in the ceasefire.

“Russia is fully observing its obligations under the cease-fire”, he said.

Rudskoi said that according to the U.S.-Russian agreements, a rebel unit that accidentally comes under attack should contact Russian or U.S. representatives, who would quickly resolve the matter. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said Saturday at a briefing in Moscow.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Islamic State fighters had attacked Tel Abyad, a town near the Turkish border.

Fighting had raged across much of western Syria right up until the agreement came into effect, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday told state-run Anadolu Agency that Saudi aircraft will arrive “today or tomorrow” at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey to join the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

Amid the relative calm, twin suicide bombings killed six people outside the town of Salamiyeh in Hama province.

Overall, opposition activists in different parts of Syria said the situation has been “cautiously calm” since the truce went into effect at midnight Friday. It does not cover Islamic State, Al-Nusra, or any other groups designated by the UN Security Council as terrorist organizations.

A main Syrian opposition group said it will respect the two-week truce that starts with the cessation of hostilities.