On its second day Syria’s new ceasefire is looking wobbly

A DAY after a proposed “cessation of hostilities” came into effect on midnight on the night of February 26th, a relative calm indeed prevailed over most of Syria. On Saturday Aleppo, of late the most ferocious battleground, as the regime and its allies have sought to clear out the rebels, was eerily quiet. A day later the truce is looking more wobbly, amid accusations of violations.

Russia, whose foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, hammered out the deal with John Kerry, the American secretary of state, on February 22nd, grounded its aircraft as agreed on February 27th. Then it resumed air strikes on February 28th. Since the autumn of last year Russia has been bombing Syria, ostensibly to fight terrorists such as Islamic State (IS), but in fact for the most part helping Bashar al-Assad bash the mainstream rebels.

The regime and the main rebel groups, who signed on to the Russian-American deal a few days after the governments agreed to it, admit the fighting has abated but have accused each other of violations. Shelling and mortar fire have been reported around Damascus. The regime is reported to...Continue reading

Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1OFCjCB

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