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Heavy Syrian airstrikes hit rebel-held areas east of Damascus Airstrikes hit rebel areas in hours before Syrian ceasefire due to begin
(about 1 hour later)
Heavy airstrikes were reported to have hit rebel-held areas to the east of Damascus as fighting continued across much of western Syria on Friday. Syria faces a crucial day on Friday as combatants in the country’s civil war are asked to meet a deadline to sign up to a ceasefire due to come into force at midnight Damascus time, 10pm GMT.
The strikes come hours before a US-Russian plan aimed at halting the fighting is due to take effect. Fighting was continuing across much of western Syria with 12 hours to go and heavy airstrikes reported on rebel-held areas to the east of Damascus.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 10 air raids and artillery shelling targeting the town of Douma, in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 10 air raids hit Douma, in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, and reported artillery bombardment by government forces in Hama and Homs provinces.
Fighting also resumed at dawn between rebels and government forces in the northwestern province of Latakia, where the Syrian army and its allies are trying to take back more territory from insurgents at the border with Turkey.
The UN Security Council is preparing on Friday to pass a resolution endorsing the US-Russian plan to halt the fighting and naming the key parties to the ceasefire.
Related: Syrian militia groups set to reveal intentions over ceasefireRelated: Syrian militia groups set to reveal intentions over ceasefire
Rescue workers in the opposition-held area said on Twitter that there were confirmed civilian casualties but did not say how many. Syrian military officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The cessation of hostilities excludes Islamic State (Isis), the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front and any other terrorist groups named by the UN security council.
The “cessation of hostilities” agreement is due to take effect at midnight (10pm GMT Friday). The intermingling of the Nusra Front with less extreme opposition factions makes the monitoring of the ceasefire highly complex, and open to abuse. The Syrian opposition political umbrella group, the High Negotiating Council, has raised the issue with US and British envoys.
The government has agreed to the plan. The main opposition alliance, which has deep reservations about the terms, has said it is ready for a two-week truce to test the intentions of the government and its Russian and Iranian backers. Damascus has made clear it will continue to target Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front which are not included in the agreement. “We are against the terrorism in the form of Isis and Nusra, but we don’t want Russia to target the moderate factions under the excuse of targeting Nusra,” said spokesman Salem al-Meslet.
The opposition fears that the government will continue targeting rebels on the pretext they are jihadis. The government says the agreement could fail if foreign states supply rebels with weapons or insurgents use the truce to rearm. In one of the few provinces held by opposition forces, Idlib, the Nusra Front works alongside more moderate rebel political and military groups.
Related: John Kerry says partition of Syria could be part of ‘plan B’ if peace talks fail Despite the flaws in the cessation plan, the UN’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is due to address the security council in closed session and set out his plans for a resumption of peace talks, possibly on 7 March.
Eastern Ghouta is frequently targeted by the Syrian army and its allies. It is a stronghold of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group, which is represented in the main opposition alliance, and has been used as a launchpad for rocket and mortar attacks on Damascus. The relatively slow timetable gives time for breaches of the cessation of hostilities to be addressed and confidence built to allow humanitarian access to besieged towns.
The Syrian Observatory also reported artillery bombardment by government forces and airstrikes overnight in Hama province, and artillery bombardment by government forces in Homs province. Fighting also resumed at dawn between rebels and government forces in the northwestern province of Latakia, where the Syrian army and its allies are trying to take back more territory from insurgents at the border with Turkey. The US and Russia are working together to produce a map setting out the physical areas that are excluded from the ceasefire, so in effect setting out territory that Russia and the Syrian government army would be permitted to continue bombing with the de facto approval of the United Nations.
Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States was resolved to try to make the deal work but that “there are plenty of reasons for scepticism”. There is also alarm that some areas largely run by the opposition Free Syrian Army may be excluded from the ceasefire. The Assad government has said it believes it will be permitted to hit rebels in Daraya, south Syria.
“If there is any ceasefire without Daraya, then in our view there is no ceasefire, because it is a Free Syrian Army stronghold,” said Issam al-Rayyes, a spokesman for the western-backed Southern Front rebel coalition.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said no one could give “100% guarantees” the ceasefire would be implemented and called on the US to end calls for Bashar al-Assad’s resignation as president of Syria.
The Russians have given the impression of being largely in charge of the peace process, with the US forced to see if Vladimir Putin’s plan brings an end to the fighting or instead an elaborate ruse to divide the Syrian opposition.
The draft security council resolution reiterates its support for the UN-brokered peace talks and calls on all parties in the conflict to grant access to aid workers to ease the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis.
One of the main purposes of the cessation of hostilities is to allow aid to reach civilians, especially in besieged areas cut off from supplies.
The US president, Barack Obama, said on Thursday he was willing to give the cessation of hostilities a chance to work, but said there were plenty of reasons for scepticism.
The Obama administration has spoken of a Plan B if either the ceasefire and the subsequent peace talks do not make substantive progress in three months. But there is little optimism Washington has a Plan B it is prepared to implement, making de facto partition the most likely, if unwelcome, option.