Russian warplane crashes on training exercise, pilot killed

Kerry and Lavrov discussed the full implementation of the agreement and reiterated the importance of close cooperation between Russian Federation and the United States as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, the ministry said.

A main Syrian opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, said 97 of its factions agreed to respect the two-week truce that starts with the cessation of hostilities.

Maps of Syria and Damascus showing cities and areas besieged, and by whom.

This is not the first time Syrian opposition forces have claimed that the Assad regime was employing Israeli technology during the years-long bloody civil war.

It said seven civilians were killed in Russian strikes on Sunday on a town in Aleppo province where Al-Nusra has a presence.

“At this point, it’s too early to say” where responsibility lies, he said.

“We’re aware that there have been some reports of violations, some concerns that have been raised”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, noting that Washington expected violation heading into the deal’s implementation.

At least 26 pro-government fighters and 14 IS jihadists were killed in the fighting around the town of Khanasser, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

He said a mechanism was needed to stop such violations and encourage negotiations.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the pause in the fighting was largely holding, despite some incidents that he hoped would be contained.

Muhannad al-Assadi told The Associated Press that the 51 trucks are carrying domestic supplies such as blankets, soap and diapers.

WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said the generosity of world leaders at the London conference “means we are able to fully meet the immediate basic food assistance needs of 1.8 million refugees in the region and 4.5 million Syrians inside the country who rely on WFP assistance every day”.

“The deliberate starvation of people is unequivocally forbidden as a weapon of warfare”.

The UN human rights chief said thousands may have starved to death in besieged areas as the warring sides showed no respect for the rules of war.

Allowing aid into rebel-held areas has been a main demand by the opposition to return to U.N.-sponsored indirect peace talks in Geneva that collapsed on February 3.

The opposition’s HNC on Sunday described the ceasefire as “positive” but lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations and foreign governments about breaches. “We are not facing a violation of the truce… we are facing a complete nullification”, he said, and “we have alternatives to protect our people” if the global community could not.

The Russian and US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect Saturday excludes ISIL and Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, Jabhat Al Nusra.

Russian Federation and a US-led coalition are conducting separate military campaigns in war-torn Syria, with the United States targeting the Islamic State group and Russian Federation supporting regime forces, and officials worry about a midair collision or some other accident.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the truce is “in place in one third of Syria, not all over”.

But “on the whole, the ceasefire regime in Syria is being implemented”, Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, head of Moscow’s coordination centre in Syria, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “Attacks are unfortunately continuing here and there”.

Since Russia began the air campaign five months ago, its warplanes have flown thousands of missions.

In Aleppo, the Observatory reported some rebel rocket fire on government-held neighbourhoods early on Monday but no casualties.

“Our teachers used to forbid us from going out to the school yard because of the air strikes but today we went out and played”, said Ranim, a 10-year-old pupil in the school of the rebel-held neighbourhood of Bustan al-Qasr.