Russian Federation says no guarantee Syria ceasefire will work

“There will be violations”.

The overwhelming majority of armed groups fighting under the authority of the so-called Free Syrian Army announced they agreed to abide by the ceasefire, the Lebanese online Daily Star newspaper quoted the High Negotiations Committee statement as saying.

Heavy black smoke bellowed the eastern countryside of Syria’s capital Damascus on Friday, in what appeared to be airstrikes pounding rebel positions, just hours ahead of the implementation of a planned ceasefire, activists said.

A previous agreement was due to come in to force last Friday but appeared not to have been observed by some groups.

Turkey has said that it would not be bound by the Syria cease-fire agreement that comes into effect at midnight Friday and would take action against the YPG if it threatens Turkey. Obama said like-minded nations are stepping up and offering more assistance to defeat the Islamic State group.

Rescue workers in the opposition-held area said five people were killed in Douma, listing their names on their Twitter feed.

‘The air raids intensified after the revolutionary factions said they will abide by the cease-fire, ‘ al-Shami said via Skype. The main opposition alliance, which has deep reservations about the terms, has said it is ready for a two-week truce to test the intentions of the government and its Russian and Iranian backers.

Russian air strikes also hit the Daret Ezza area in western Aleppo province and Talbisseh city in Homs province.

Speaking after a meeting with his national-security team at the State Department on Thursday, President Obama gave a sober assessment of the ceasefire’s chances, acknowledging that “there are plenty of reasons for skepticism” but insisting that a peaceful resolution to the conflict was the right thing for the United States to pursue.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops regained control of the sole supply route to government-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo from Islamic State.

“I would like to express the hope that our American partners will also bear this in mind… and that nobody will forget that there are other terrorist organisations apart from Islamic State”, he said. He said Syria’s future can not include Assad as president, which is a chief point of contention with Russian Federation and Iran, who support the Syrian leader.

“We are certain that there will continue to be fighting”, Obama said, noting that IS, the Nusra Front and other militant groups are not part of the negotiations and the truce.

In Washington on Thursday, Obama put the onus firmly on the regime and Russian Federation.

Under the measure, which has not been signed by the Syrian warring parties themselves and is less binding than a formal ceasefire, the government and its enemies are expected to halt firing to allow aid to reach civilians and peace talks to begin.

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

Russia’s Vladimir Putin says his country will keep hitting “terrorist organizations” in Syria even as the U.S.-Russia-engineered truce goes into effect at midnight.