A barrage of airstrikes on rebel-held areas in Syria have killed scores of people, just hours after the government in Damascus approved a US-Russian plan to halt fighting in the country's suppurating
civil war.
It was not
immediately clear who carried out the raids, which hit the key northern cities
of Idlib and Aleppo.
But they came
as a new ceasefire, agreed as part of a landmark deal brokered by Russia and
the US, was set to begin on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid
al-Adha, allowing much needed aid to reach the beleaguered civilian population.
The regime of
President Bashar al-Assad approved the truce deal on Saturday, but the main
opposition group was more cautious.
Syrian state
news agency SANA reported that the "government has approved the agreement,
and a cessation of hostilities will begin in Aleppo for humanitarian
reasons"
Citing
"informed sources", it said "the entire agreement was reached
with the knowledge of the Syrian government".
The opposition
High Negotiations Committee (HNC) was more circumspect, saying it had yet to
receive the deal's "official" text.
Despite the
apparent breakthrough, the killing continued, with deadly bombing raids on the
rebel stronghold of Idlib province.
The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 58 people were killed in raids on various
neighbourhoods of Idlib city, including a market, but it was not immediately
clear who carried out the strikes.
The toll included
13 women and 13 children, it said.
An AFP
photographer in Idlib saw men clambering over rubble in just sandals to help
evacuate wounded and dust-covered residents from a collapsing building.
Another 12
civilians were killed in unidentified strikes on several neighbourhoods of
Aleppo city, and 18 people died in bombardment of other parts of Aleppo
province, the Observatory said
The landmark
deal, reached after marathon talks in Geneva on Friday, could also lead to the
first joint military operations by Moscow and Washington -- who back opposing
sides in the conflict -- against jihadists.
Both Kerry and
Lavrov said the complex plan is the best chance to end the five-year war that
has killed more than 290,000 people and seen millions flee to neighbouring
countries.
Under the
deal, fighting would halt across the country at sundown on Monday and Syria's
air force would stop attacking rebel-held areas.
In turn,
Washington must get opposition groups it backs to separate themselves from the
Fateh al-Sham Front, which changed its name from Al-Nusra Front after
renouncing its ties to Al-Qaeda.
But mainstream
opposition fighters have not indicated a willingness to break their alliance
with powerful hardliners, which they view as "a military necessity",
according to Syria expert Charles Lister.
- 'Beginning
of the end' -
Leading HNC
member Bassma Kodmani told AFP that her group "cautiously welcomed"
the deal but was sceptical that Damascus would comply.
Kodmani said
the opposition would "do our part" to see that rebel groups break
ranks with the jihadists if the truce held.
UN Syria envoy
Staffan de Mistura said that the deal provided a "window of
opportunity" and that he would begin consultations on relaunching peace
talks.
But the
question of Assad's fate remains a key sticking point: the HNC repeated its
demand this week that he leave power, but Russia continues to back him.
A UN-supported
truce in February faltered after each side accused the other of repeated
violations, and Damascus resident Taher Ibrahim told AFP he did not expect this
new truce to play out any differently.
"Nobody
among the Syrian population accepts this agreement... (the opposition) are all
the same and none of them will commit to this truce," he said.
But student
Abdulhadi Al-Omari said he believed "it is the beginning of the end of the
crisis".
"I am
very optimistic because this truce is not like the previous one, it categorises
the opposition groups between terrorist and moderate," he said.
US special
envoy to the Syrian crisis Michael Ratney appealed to rebel groups to commit to
the deal, saying it was the "best way" to save lives.
In a letter,
he said the initial truce would last 48 hours and could then be renewed, and
that it would be "more effective than its predecessor" because it
would halt Syrian strikes "on civilians and the opposition"
AFP
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