September 14, 2016 The Skanner Page 9
News
By Bassem Mroue
Associated Press
BEIRUT — The Syrian
cease-ire appeared to be
holding on Tuesday de-
spite sporadic and minor
violations of the U.S. and
Russian brokered truce,
which is aimed at paving
the way for the delivery
of humanitarian aid and
the revival of peace talks.
The deal, hammered
out by U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry and
his Russian counterpart
Sergey Lavrov last week,
oicially came into efect
at sunset on Monday.
The Syrian army said it
would abide by the cease-
ire until midnight Sun-
day, while maintaining
its right to defend itself
against any violations.
Syria’s
largest
in-
surgent groups have
expressed
misgivings
about the deal, which al-
lows for strikes against
al-Qaida-linked
mili-
tants who ight alongside
the rebels. Jabhat Fatah
“
is prevailing in all ar-
eas,” said Ahmad al-Ma-
salmeh, an opposition
activist in the southern
province of Daraa —
where the 2011 uprising
began.
In the northern city of
Aleppo, which has seen
heavy ighting in recent
months, opposition ac-
tivists said rebel-held
parts of the city were
calm on Tuesday morn-
ing but that many peo-
ple were still hunkering
down in their homes,
fearful of going out.
Aleppo-based
activist
Baraa al-Halaby said no
aid deliveries, which are
also part of the cease-ire
deal, have yet entered the
contested area.
Syrian state news agen-
cy SANA said rebels ired
three shells at a govern-
ment-held neighborhood
in Aleppo.
It also reported shell-
ing near the Castello
road, northwest of the
city, and the Ramouseh
area in the south — both
The deal marks the second at-
tempt this year to try reduce
violence in war-torn Syria,
where the 5 ½ year conlict
has killed more than 250,000
people and displaced half the
country’s population of 11
million
al-Sham, an al-Qaida-
linked group previous-
ly known as the Nusra
Front, has denounced the
agreement.
The deal marks the sec-
ond attempt this year to
try reduce violence in
war-torn Syria, where
the 5 ½ year conlict has
killed more than 250,000
people and displaced half
the country’s population
of 11 million. A truce in
late February collapsed
weeks later.
The irst week of the
truce will be crucial.
During that time, all
ighting between Syrian
President Bashar Assad’s
forces and the rebels is to
stop. However, Assad’s
forces can continue air-
strikes against the Islam-
ic State group and al-Qa-
ida-linked militants.
If the calm holds for
seven days, the U.S. and
Russian militaries would
then set up a new cen-
ter to coordinate strikes
against IS and Jabhat Fa-
tah al-Sham.
Under the truce, As-
sad’s forces are no lon-
ger supposed to bomb
Syria’s opposition. The
Syrian air force has been
dropping barrel bombs
on civilian areas under
the pretext of targeting
militants.
For the moment, “calm
main arteries leading to
Aleppo.
Rami Abdurrahman,
head of the Syrian Ob-
servatory for Human
Rights, said there were
minor violations in cen-
tral Hama province.
Another activist group,
the Local Coordination
Committees,
reported
shelling in Aleppo and
the southern region of
Quneitra.
Al-Manar TV, run by
the Lebanese militant
group Hezbollah, said
Syrian troops struck a
Nusra Front tank with
a missile in Quneitra,
without providing fur-
ther details. Hezbollah
is ighting alongside As-
sad’s forces.
The Britain-based Ob-
servatory, which relies
on a network of activ-
ists inside Syria, said no
one has been killed or
wounded since the truce
went into efect.
Turkey’s
state-run
news agency said 20 U.N.
trucks have let Turkey
to deliver humanitar-
ian aid to Aleppo. The
Anadolu agency said the
trucks let around noon,
with a total of 40 trucks
expected to cross the bor-
der by the end of the day.
The deal’s architects
hope the cease-ire will
pave the way for an
extended period of re-
straint that can serve as
the foundation for peace
talks. As the cease-ire
came into efect, Ker-
ry urged Syrian rebels
to distance themselves
from
al-Qaida-linked
militants.
Russia is pushing to
make public the text of
the cease-ire deal, but
Lavrov told reporters on
Tuesday that the U.S. op-
poses such a move.
Lavrov said Moscow
“has nothing to hide”
and wants the U.N. Secu-
rity Council to formally
approve the Syria truce
deal as well.
Read the rest of this story at
TheSkanner.com
MODAR SHEKHO VIA AP
Syria Cease-ire Holding, With Only Minor Violations
Activists in Syria’s besieged Aleppo protest against the United Nations for what they say is its failure to
lift the siege of their rebel-held area, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. Dozens of protesters marched in al-Shaar
neighborhood heading toward the Castello road, the area from which aid is expected to be delivered.
“Hunger better than humiliation,” one banner read. “X the UN,” another read.
