Airstrikes kill 100 in Syria after new truce deal
Syrian rescuers carry a little girl from the rubble following a reported airstrike on the rebel-held Salihin neighbourhood of Aleppo .
AFP, Beirut :
Air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria reportedly killed at least 100 people hours after the US and Russia announced plans for a truce.
An air strike on a market in Idlib killed up to 60 people while at least 45 died in strikes on Aleppo province, opposition activists say.
A 10-day truce is meant to start on Monday, followed by co-ordinated air strikes against jihadist militants.
Turkey and the EU welcomed the plan but warned that further action was needed.
Turkey said aid must be delivered from the very start while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looked towards a “political transition”.
A spokeswoman for Syria’s opposition said the plan provided some hope but more details were needed about how it would be enforced.
In the capital, Damascus, the government endorsed the deal, the state news agency Sana reported.
There has been no official reaction from Iran which, like Russia, is allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The conflict in Syria, which began with an uprising against Mr Assad, has raged for five years and claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people.
Millions have fled abroad, many of them seeking asylum in the EU, but nearly 18 million people remain in Syria, which has been carved up by fighting between government and rebel forces.
When a busy vegetable market was targeted in Idlib, as many as 90 people were injured in addition to those killed, media and opposition activists say.
Some of Saturday’s air strikes are believed to have hit the towns of Anadan and Hreitan near Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
Getting a deal was an achievement, given the sour atmosphere between Moscow and Washington. It offers some fragile hope about stopping the slaughter.
But there is scepticism about its chances. That is because a lot is going to have to go right, quite quickly, if the agreement is to work. One necessity is President Assad’s consent. A week-long ceasefire might be possible, but a political deal to end the war is still out of sight.
The Assad regime’s survival depends on the Russians, so he will listen to them. But with Russia’s help, the Assad regime is looking more robust. So it is hard to see why the president, or his Russian allies, would want him to go.
The war in Syria is made up of layers of conflict, which connect up to regional and global rivalries. That makes it very hard to calm, let alone end.
The truce is due to take hold at sunset on Monday, at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Under the plan, Syrian government forces will end combat missions in specified opposition-held areas.
In an unexpected development, Russia and the US will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups.
These include IS but also Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the group known until recently as the Nusra Front, when it was allied to al-Qaeda.
The deal was reached in Geneva, Switzerland, between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Mr Lavrov said only the Russian and US air forces would operate in areas designated for co-ordinated strikes but added that the Syrian air force could operate in other areas.
Welcoming the deal, Turkey, which launched its first major military incursion into Syria last month, said it was essential to halt fighting across Syria and deliver humanitarian aid to those in need “from the first day”.
“The agreement… is very welcome,” said Ms Mogherini, stressing that a UN proposal for a political transition would be “the starting point for resumption of the intra-Syrian talks”.
Previous diplomatic initiatives have foundered on President Assad’s refusal to give up power, leading to widespread scepticism about the latest initiative.
BEIRUT (AP) – A day of intense airstrikes Saturday on and around the northern city of Aleppo killed at least 45 people, according to opposition activists.
The Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, said 45 people were killed Saturday, just hours after the new U.S.-Russian agreement was reached to try and end the violence in Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people were killed in Aleppo province and another 39 were killed by airstrikes in neighboring Idlib province.
Contrasting casualty figures are common in the aftermath of large attacks in Syria.
The United States and Russia announced a deal Saturday that would establish a nationwide cease-fire starting on Monday, followed a week later by an new military partnership targeting Islamic State and al-Qaida militants as well as the establishment of new limits on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad forces.
Previous Syrian cease-fires or limited truces have also been preceded by spikes in violence as both government and rebel forces seek to consolidate positions or gain new ground in the final remaining hours of warfare.
State news agency SANA said the Syrian government accepts the agreement, adding that hostilities will stop in the northern city of Aleppo, the country’s largest, for “humanitarian reasons.” It did not say when the violence will stop, adding that the U.S.-Russia agreement “was reached with the knowledge and approval of the Syrian government.”
Saturday’s violence shows that it might be difficult to implement the U.S.-Russia agreement as both countries enjoy limited influence on the government and insurgent groups to cease the bombardment.
A cease-fire reached by the two world powers earlier this year and put into effect in late February failed shortly afterward and was followed by months of violence the killed thousands.
Russia is a main backer of Assad’s government while the U.S. has been supporting rebel groups trying to remove him from power. Syria’s conflict, now in its sixth year, has continued despite several rounds of peace talks and international attempts to try end the violence. At least a quarter million people have been killed and half the country’s prewar population displaced.
Air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria reportedly killed at least 100 people hours after the US and Russia announced plans for a truce.
An air strike on a market in Idlib killed up to 60 people while at least 45 died in strikes on Aleppo province, opposition activists say.
A 10-day truce is meant to start on Monday, followed by co-ordinated air strikes against jihadist militants.
Turkey and the EU welcomed the plan but warned that further action was needed.
Turkey said aid must be delivered from the very start while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looked towards a “political transition”.
A spokeswoman for Syria’s opposition said the plan provided some hope but more details were needed about how it would be enforced.
In the capital, Damascus, the government endorsed the deal, the state news agency Sana reported.
There has been no official reaction from Iran which, like Russia, is allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The conflict in Syria, which began with an uprising against Mr Assad, has raged for five years and claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people.
Millions have fled abroad, many of them seeking asylum in the EU, but nearly 18 million people remain in Syria, which has been carved up by fighting between government and rebel forces.
When a busy vegetable market was targeted in Idlib, as many as 90 people were injured in addition to those killed, media and opposition activists say.
Some of Saturday’s air strikes are believed to have hit the towns of Anadan and Hreitan near Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
Getting a deal was an achievement, given the sour atmosphere between Moscow and Washington. It offers some fragile hope about stopping the slaughter.
But there is scepticism about its chances. That is because a lot is going to have to go right, quite quickly, if the agreement is to work. One necessity is President Assad’s consent. A week-long ceasefire might be possible, but a political deal to end the war is still out of sight.
The Assad regime’s survival depends on the Russians, so he will listen to them. But with Russia’s help, the Assad regime is looking more robust. So it is hard to see why the president, or his Russian allies, would want him to go.
The war in Syria is made up of layers of conflict, which connect up to regional and global rivalries. That makes it very hard to calm, let alone end.
The truce is due to take hold at sunset on Monday, at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Under the plan, Syrian government forces will end combat missions in specified opposition-held areas.
In an unexpected development, Russia and the US will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups.
These include IS but also Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the group known until recently as the Nusra Front, when it was allied to al-Qaeda.
The deal was reached in Geneva, Switzerland, between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Mr Lavrov said only the Russian and US air forces would operate in areas designated for co-ordinated strikes but added that the Syrian air force could operate in other areas.
Welcoming the deal, Turkey, which launched its first major military incursion into Syria last month, said it was essential to halt fighting across Syria and deliver humanitarian aid to those in need “from the first day”.
“The agreement… is very welcome,” said Ms Mogherini, stressing that a UN proposal for a political transition would be “the starting point for resumption of the intra-Syrian talks”.
Previous diplomatic initiatives have foundered on President Assad’s refusal to give up power, leading to widespread scepticism about the latest initiative.
BEIRUT (AP) – A day of intense airstrikes Saturday on and around the northern city of Aleppo killed at least 45 people, according to opposition activists.
The Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, said 45 people were killed Saturday, just hours after the new U.S.-Russian agreement was reached to try and end the violence in Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people were killed in Aleppo province and another 39 were killed by airstrikes in neighboring Idlib province.
Contrasting casualty figures are common in the aftermath of large attacks in Syria.
The United States and Russia announced a deal Saturday that would establish a nationwide cease-fire starting on Monday, followed a week later by an new military partnership targeting Islamic State and al-Qaida militants as well as the establishment of new limits on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad forces.
Previous Syrian cease-fires or limited truces have also been preceded by spikes in violence as both government and rebel forces seek to consolidate positions or gain new ground in the final remaining hours of warfare.
State news agency SANA said the Syrian government accepts the agreement, adding that hostilities will stop in the northern city of Aleppo, the country’s largest, for “humanitarian reasons.” It did not say when the violence will stop, adding that the U.S.-Russia agreement “was reached with the knowledge and approval of the Syrian government.”
Saturday’s violence shows that it might be difficult to implement the U.S.-Russia agreement as both countries enjoy limited influence on the government and insurgent groups to cease the bombardment.
A cease-fire reached by the two world powers earlier this year and put into effect in late February failed shortly afterward and was followed by months of violence the killed thousands.
Russia is a main backer of Assad’s government while the U.S. has been supporting rebel groups trying to remove him from power. Syria’s conflict, now in its sixth year, has continued despite several rounds of peace talks and international attempts to try end the violence. At least a quarter million people have been killed and half the country’s prewar population displaced.
