Ceasefire delivers a rare calm to Syrians
‘‘People are going about their business, and children are even playing in the street.’’ Mohamed Omar, a civil defence volunteer
A ceasefire in Syria brokered by the United States and Russia has brought a rare period of calm to hard-hit parts of the country, activists said yesterday, sending normally terrified residents out to shop, play and visit loved ones.
The nationwide truce went into effect at sundown Monday (local time) and continued to hold despite reports of sporadic violations.
After some air strikes and shelling in the early hours, ‘‘by early morning every report we have been seeing indicates a significant, significant drop in violence,’’ United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura said.
It is the second major attempt by world powers to curb the fighting that has killed nearly half a million people and spawned a humanitarian crisis stretching from the Middle East to Europe.
It also marks the first time in months that rebel forces and the Syrian government have halted their fire in all opposition areas, including government air strikes, granting civilians a brief reprieve from the constant threat of bombing and shelling.
‘‘People are going about their business, and children are even playing in the street,’’ Mohamed Omar, a civil defence volunteer in the rebel-held area of Aleppo, a city that has been devastated by the five-year conflict.
‘‘People feel a lot more safe today because there are no air strikes,’’ he said. ‘‘Things seem calmer.’’
The ceasefire is part of a broader deal between Washington and Moscow to eventually launch joint strikes against Islamic militants in Syria and possibly pave the way for a negotiated end to the war. The US has backed some Syrian rebel factions battling the government, and is leading a coalition conducting strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Russia has sent warplanes and troops to aid Syrian President Bashar al-assad.
The two sides also have called for the unimpeded flow of aid into Syria. But that effort is slow to get off the ground.
A major road designated under the agreement as a neutral humanitarian corridor remained the scene of clashes. Syrian government forces are required by the deal to withdraw from Castello Rd in Aleppo province, and rebels also should refrain from launching attacks.
De Mistura said allegations of mortar shelling on the road, ‘‘by the opposition, in this case,’’ had been reported.
He expected the aid convoys to begin moving ‘‘very soon’’. The trucks destined for rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he said, will move once ‘‘notification’’ of their contents is formally provided to the Syrian government, and opposition forces inside the city agree to UN distribution terms.
Aid destined for other parts of the country, where more than a dozen besieged areas have been without food deliveries, in some cases for years, is still awaiting Syrian government authorisation, de Mistura said.
The UN needs to make sure its staff and partners ‘‘are not in mortal danger’’ before starting aid convoys, said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN coordination agency said.
According to the timetable laid out by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the first seven days are crucial. Russia is responsible for keeping the Syrian air force out of the air, while the US must stop attacks by rebel forces.
If the ceasefire holds, the two sides will work on plans to share intelligence and conduct coordinated air strikes, first against a former al-qaeda affiliate, Jabhat Fatah al-sham, or Front for the Conquest of Syria, and then Islamic State.