Ceasefire Takes Effect in Syria

[Video from Reuters]

At 7pm local time a ceasefire took effect in Syria. The pause in hostilities comes as a result of on-going talks led by the US and Russia. The temporary cessation of hostilities will last 10 days and is intended to allow access for humanitarian aid.

Excluding Daesh and the – until recently Al-Qaeda linked – Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the deal has support from all major groups that are party to the civil war, including groups associated with the opposition, who articulated their support in a letter yesterday.

Although the regime’s military has also agreed to the temporary peace it has said that it would respond with force to belligerence by its opponents. Just hours before the truce came into effect embattled president Bashar al-Assad visited a mosque in Daraya – a district that was, until its fall, subject to a brutal siege by the military – where he stated, ominously “The Syrian state is determined to recover every area from the terrorists,”

The ceasefire has been welcomed by international aid agencies and media reports confirm that the truce appears to be holding at present.