Syria ceasefire: Army to halt operations at 'zero hour' on Thursday night
Moscow has announced a 'reduction' of its forces in Syria ahead of truce overseen by Turkey and Russia as bombing continues on the ground
Workers start the clean-up after a Syrian government advance in the city of Aleppo (AFP)
Thursday 29 December 2016
A ceasefire deal in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey will come into effect at midnight local time on Thursday, Moscow said, announcing a "reduction" in the numbers of Russian forces on the ground in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the planned ceasefire for Syria was a "historic opportunity" to end the nearly six year Syrian conflict, saying it was a chance that could not be wasted.
"This chance absolutely should not be lost. This a historic opportunity," he told a news conference in Ankara alongside Kosovo President Hashim Thaci.
"This is a window of opportunity that has been opened and should not be squandered," Erdogan added.
The agreement includes all rebel groups apart from the Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG, a Free Syrian Army spokesperson said - but Turkey has made contradictory statements about the groups that can still be attacked.
Ahead of the deal coming into force, air strikes continued to pound rebel-held areas close to Damascus, with at least 40 people killed on Thursday alone in the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.
Fifteen of the dead were civilians, including six children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Activists said a school was among the targets hit - footage purporting to be from the scene showed terrified children running screaming through smoke outside a building marked "Future School".
Russia's embassy in Damascus was targeted again by shelling for the second time in two days, according to RIA Novosti, Russia's state-owned international news agency.
There were no reported casualties and only minor damage caused by the two rockets that were fired from rebel-held areas in the capital.
"Another attack on a Russian diplomatic mission is unacceptable and deserves the strongest condemnation," said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharov, who added that the militants would not be allowed to disrupt the ceasefire.
Despite the ongoing bloodshed on the ground into Thursday afternoon, the Syrian government said it will halt all operations at mignight local time.
"The general command of the armed forces announces a complete halt to all hostilities on Syrian territory from the zero hour of December 30th," it said in a statement.
'Fingers on the trigger'
The Syrian National Coalition, a main opposition umbrella group, said it backed the deal.
"The National Coalition expresses support for the agreement and urges all parties to abide by it," spokesperson Ahmed Ramadan told AFP of the deal.
The Free Syrian Army has also said that it will agree to the deal, but that it reserves the right to respond to any violations.
"We will have our fingers on the trigger," a spokesperson, Osama Abu Zeid, told a press conference in Ankara, stressing that the opposition is prepared to attend peace talks.
Rebel groups are insisting that the ceasefire deal includes all armed opposition factions apart from the Islamic State.
However, Turkey said that groups classified as "terrorist" by the UN Security Council - which include both the Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the rebranded version of al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front - would not be part of the deal.
Russia added that any group that had not signed Thursday's agreement would be considered "terrorist," hinting that other groups could be excluded from the ceasefire deal.
According to the Russian ministry of defence, the seven rebel groups that have signed the agreement are: Feilak al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, Thuwar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Mujahideen, Jaysh Idlib and Jabhat al-Shamiyyah.
Russia's defence minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Thursday that the seven groups that signed the deal include some 60,000 fighters.
Pro-government troops celebrate as they advance through formerly rebel-held districts of Aleppo (AFP)
Russia and Turkey to oversee ceasefire
A new round of peace talks will also be held within a month in Kazakh capital Astana, with rebel groups guaranteed the right to assemble their own negotiating team.
The UN will participate in the talks, which will take place according to a UN resolution agreed following a previous round of talks.
Abu Zeid said Russia will be responsible for ensuring that Iranian troops and militia groups supportive of Assad comply with the ceasefire.
He also said that there will be no geographical exclusions to the ceasefire, which will affect all of Syria.
Russia had reportedly been insisting that Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold close to the Syrian capital Damascus, be excluded from the ceasefire, meaning it could continue to be subject to shelling and air strikes.
Thursday's Russia-Turkey deal came, he said, after the "failure" of the international community to protect Syrians or deliver humanitarian aid to people in besieged areas.
Turkey and Russia will oversee the implementation of the ceasefire deal, Turkey confirmed on Thursday.
The announcement of the ceasefire came after Russian war planes bombing the town of al-Bab for the first time on Wednesday, aiding a ground advance by Turkish troops.
READ: Russia bombs IS-held town in Syria, aids Turkish advance
'Fragile' ceasefire deal
“This agreement we’ve reached is very fragile, as we all understand," said Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Russian foreign and defence ministers. "They require special attention and patience, professional attitude, and constant contact with our partners."
Putin also said the ceasefire would not see Russia step back from its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad however.
"I agree with the proposal from the defence ministry for the reduction of our military presence in Syria," Putin said in a televised meeting, insisting Russia would still continue to support Assad.
Russia is also prepared to ask Egypt to join the deal, said Lavarov on Thursday, adding that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan could also become part of the deal.
There have been several ceasefire deals during the more than five years of the Syrian conflict - however, all have fallen through after a short period due to alleged violations.
