Violence
significantly decreased in much of northern and western Syria on Saturday, the first day of a truce
brokered by the United States and Russia,
even amid reports of scattered violations, including incidents of bombing,
shelling and at least one aerial attack.
Russia said it was suspending, at
least for the day, the airstrikes it had been conducting for five months in
support of the Syrian government, and residents in many areas enjoyed a few
tentative hours of calm.
The United
States and Russia have invested considerable political capital in the truce,
although it has not been formally signed by either the Syrian government or its
opponents. It is the first such attempt since a United Nations-brokered truce
in April 2012 that broke down within hours.
The deal still faces major obstacles, not least a lack of
clarity on who is going to stop shooting at whom and how the truce will be
monitored. Russia and the United States have set up separate, parallel
monitoring centers, at Russia’s air base in government-held Syria and in Amman,
Jordan.
The truce does not include the powerful Nusra
Front, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda and fights alongside armed opposition
groups. The deal also does not cover the self-declared Islamic State.
Neighboring Turkey has said the truce does not cover Syrian Kurdish
militias it considers to be terrorist organizations. And all parties say they
have the right to retaliate in self-defense.
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