Syrian Opposition Accuses Govt of Wrecking Truce Deal

A senior official from Syria’s main opposition group said yesterday that the first major attempt to halt the fighting after nearly five years of war was in danger of total collapse because of attacks by government forces.

The cessation of hostilities drawn up by the United States and Russia, faced“complete nullification” because Syrian government attacks were violating the agreement, the official of the Saudi-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said.

France said there were reports of attacks on opposition forces in breach of the deal, which came into force on Saturday, and countries backing the Syria peace process meet later yesterday to try to clarify the situation.

United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said the pause in the fighting was largely holding, despite some incidents that he hoped would be contained.The Kremlin said the process was under way, although it had always been clear it would not be easy.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the cessation was largely holding with casualties greatly reduced compared to before the agreement took effect.

The cessation of hostilities, the first of its kind since the war began in 2011, is a less formal arrangement than a ceasefire. It is meant to allow peace talks to resume and aid to reach besieged communities.

The United Nations and other agencies hope to deliver aid to more than 150,000 people in the next five days.

Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the HNC’s delegation to the peace talks, gave a gloomy assessment of the truce. “We are not facing a violation of the truce ... we are facing a complete nullification,”he said on Al Arabiya al Hadath TV.

“I believe the international community has totally failed in all its experiments, and must take real, practical measures towards the (Syrian) regime,”Zoubi said, without elaborating.

He said there were no signs of any preparations for peace talks, which the United Nations wants to reconvene on March 7.

Talks in Geneva in early February collapsed before they started, with rebels saying they could not negotiate while they were being bombed.

Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on claims that government forces were violating the cessation. The government, whose forces are backed by Russian air power, has said it is abiding by the agreement.

The agreement does not include jihadist groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front and Russia has made clear it intends to keep bombing them. But rebels regarded as“moderate” by the West fear they will also be targeted as they operate in areas where Nusra is also present.