Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 11 September 2016: Mixed reaction to Syria ceasefire deal

A US-Russian Syria ceasefire deal announced on Saturday was welcomed by the Syrian government and Iran but met with scepticism by opposition forces. Syrian rebels are wary of this plan failing, arguing that the previous ceasefire in February was quickly violated by the regime. Many fronts of the ongoing civil war saw fighting flare up as both sides are attempting to improve their military position before the ceasefire, scheduled on Monday sundown, goes into effect.

The government in Damascus did not officially comment on this development, but both Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the agreement was consulted with and accepted by Bashar al-Asad. Iran, a major sponsor of the Syrian regime, welcomed the agreement, but warned against terrorist exploiting the lull in fighting. Lebanese Hezbollah, which is Iran-backed and whose units are fighting on government’s side, also backed the truce.

Syrian opposition groups reacted with various levels of distrust rooted in the failure of a previous ceasefire in February. A spokeswoman for the opposition High Negotiating Council, Bassa Kodanni, argued that the government need to be pressured to abide by the agreement. This sentiment was shared by representatives of main rebel military groups, who also argued that the regime will exploit the ceasefire in order to strengthen its hand before the next military confrontation. US special envoy to Syria, Michael Ratney, wrote a letter in Arabic in which he appealed to opposition groups to accept the agreement, claiming it is the best way to save live and arguing that it will stop air strikes.

Once the ceasefire date was announced, fighting flared up on several fronts. Regime forces, which had put Aleppo under siege, started an attack on Amriyah district in the south of the city. Meanwhile, rebel groups launched an offensive along the border with Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Government air force attacked a series of targets on opposition-controlled areas, killing at least 58 people in a strike on a market in the city of Idlib.