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Syria’s cease-fire is working, at least for now Syria’s cease-fire is working, at least for now
(about 5 hours later)
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Syrians awoke Saturday to a rare day of calm as an internationally mandated cease-fire took hold across the country, bringing at least a temporary halt to the fighting for the first time in years. GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The unthinkable happened in Syria on Saturday as an internationally mandated truce unexpectedly took hold across much of the country, raising hopes that the beginning of an end to the five-year-old war may be in sight.
There were scattered reports of clashes and artillery fire along some of the front lines overnight, a car bomb killed two people in the province of Hama and aircraft dropped six barrel bombs on a front line near Idlib shortly before noon, according to the White Helmets civil defense group. There were scattered skirmishes and bursts of artillery fire across some of the front lines, a car bomb killed two people in the province of Hama, and Syrian government warplanes dropped barrel bombs on a village in Idlib province, without causing casualties.
But for the most part, Syrians were relishing the unusual tranquillity, and more than 12 hours after the truce went into effect, guns were almost completely silent nationwide. But for the first time in as long as anyone can remember, the guns were almost completely silent, offering Syrians a welcome respite from the relentless bloodshed that has killed in excess of a quarter of a million people.
“We have not experienced such a thing since the beginning of the revolution,” said Maj. Jamil al-Saleh, commander of the U.S.-backed Tajamu al-Izza brigade in the Hama province town of Latamneh. He and his men were taking advantage of the calm to clear the rubble from more than 50 airstrikes in the town over the previous 48 hours, conducted by Russian warplanes in a late blitz apparently aimed at securing maximum advantage before the truce went into effect. “We have not experienced such a thing since the beginning of the revolution,” said Maj. Jamil al-Saleh, commander of the U.S.-backed Tajamu al-Izza brigade in the Hama province town of Latamneh. He and his men were taking advantage of the calm to clear the rubble from more than 50 airstrikes in the town during the previous 48 hours, conducted by Russian warplanes in a late blitz apparently aimed at securing maximum advantage before the truce went into effect.
There were no planes at all in the skies of the much-bombed city of Aleppo for the first time in days, and residents there were venturing onto the streets with newfound confidence, said Ameen al-Halabi, an activist living in a rebel-held neighborhood. There were no planes in the skies of the much-bombed city of Aleppo for the first time in days, and residents there were venturing out onto the streets with newfound confidence, said Ameen al-Halabi, an activist living in a rebel-held neighborhood.
“Today is so different,” he said. “People feel safe, and you can feel more life in the streets.” “Today is so different. People feel safe, and you can feel more life in the streets,” he said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry told reporters in Moscow that the Russian air force had suspended airstrikes Saturday over Syria to facilitate the implementation of the two-week truce. But a ministry spokesman indicated that Russia might at some point soon resume bombardments against groups not covered by the cessation-of-hostilities agreement — the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. Russia’s Defense Ministry told reporters in Moscow the Russian air force had completely suspended airstrikes over Syria on Saturday to encourage the implementation of the two-week truce. But a ministry spokesman indicated that Russia may soon resume bombardments against those groups not covered by the cessation of hostilities agreement — the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra.
The suspension of the strikes “does not mean that Daesh or Nusra Front terrorists may breathe freely. We are in control of the situation all across Syria,” said Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, in comments quoted by the Russian Sputnik news agency. The suspension of the strikes “does not mean that Daesh or Nusra Front terrorists may breathe freely. We are in control of the situation all across Syria,” said Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, in comments quoted by the Russian Sputnik news agency.
Syrians expressed skepticism that the truce would hold. “Nothing has changed,” said Capt. Abdulsalam Abdulrazzak of the Noureddine al-Zinki rebel group, speaking from a front-line town west of Aleppo. “Russia and the regime consider the truce as a military tactic, not as a preparatory measure for a political solution.” [Cease-fire goes into effect in Syria]
For now at least, there is widespread relief that the bloodshed has stopped. “Overall there is a mood of surprise that attacks have reduced significantly,” said a statement from the White Helmets civil defense group. This was the first attempt by the international community to bring about a cease-fire since a U.N.-led effort in 2012 collapsed within hours, and expectations were low that this one would succeed.
On a call to the White Helmets team in the southern province of Daraa, one member on speakerphone said: “Can you hear that? It is the sound of birds singing.” The exclusion of Jabhat al-Nusra was one of the reasons why Syrians had low expectations. Jabhat al-Nusra fighters are scattered across rebel areas, making it hard to distinguish rebel positions from Jabhat al-Nusra ones, increasing the likelihood of bombardments targeting all groups.
The truce went into effect hours after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing the temporary truce, which, it is hoped, will give new impetus to a wider peace effort aimed at ending the brutal conflict. Both sides to the conflict exchanged allegations of violations, with the Syrian government accusing the rebels of firing shells into the capital city of Damascus and the Syrian opposition saying the government had infringed the truce in 15 different locations by day’s end.
“Let us pray that this works,” U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said in Geneva, after meeting with representatives of the countries sponsoring the accord. “Because, frankly, this is the best opportunity we can imagine that the Syrian people have had over the last five years . . . to see . . . something related to peace.” But for the most part, there was simply widespread relief that the bloodshed had paused at all, even if only for a day.
Among the many difficulties will be monitoring what the deal’s sponsors and participants call a “cessation of hostilities,” rather than a cease-fire, because it is not intended to offer a permanent solution. That, it is hoped, will emerge from peace talks aimed at securing a broader settlement. “Overall there is a mood of surprise that attacks have reduced significantly,” said a statement from the White Helmets civil defense group, which was monitoring the violence nationwide. During a call to the White Helmets team in the southern province of Daraa, one member put on the speakerphone and asked: “Can you hear that? It is the sound of birds singing.”
The United States and Russia, as co-chairs of a task force that includes 15 other governments supporting either the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or the armed opposition fighting against it, are primarily responsible for verifying breaches and containing them from afar. The calm bolstered hopes that a stalled peace effort to secure a broad settlement to the war may soon be revived. Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, has tentatively set March 7 as the date for the resumption of the talks in Geneva, which collapsed without progress earlier this month.
The two countries have established separate operations centers to investigate and adjudicate violation reports made to them by the parties on the ground or passed on by U.N. offices in Geneva and Damascus, the Syrian capital. These centers are in Washington and Amman, Jordan, for the United States; and Moscow and Latakia, Syria, for Russia. A hotline also has been established between the United States and Russia. The truce, scheduled initially to last for two weeks, is being officially referred to as a cessation of hostilities rather than a cease-fire because it is not intended to be a permanent solution. That is the goal of the peace talks, which have as their aim the creation of a transitional government that will pave the way for a full end to the hostilities and a long-term solution.
The United Nations has its own contacts on the ground, and “Russians and Americans do have their own antennas, which have been raised,” de Mistura said without offering further explanation of how the monitoring will be conducted. “The system needs to be given a case to be tested.” There was nonetheless widespread skepticism that the calm will last long enough to give real impetus to the peace talks.
Any military response to a breach should be a “last resort,” he said, and “proportionate” to the initial offense. “We should not be surprised by breaches. What we need is to make sure it is contained.” [On cusp of planned Syria cease-fire, details on monitoring remain unclear]
The United States and its allies in Europe and the region who are supporting various opposition groups will be responsible for reining in those groups’ combatants, presumably through diplomatic force or threats to withhold aid. Russia, which has been steadily bombing Assad’s opponents for months, is responsible for stopping its own attacks, those by Syrian government air and ground forces, and those by Iran-backed Shiite militias acting on Assad’s behalf. Much time has already been taken out of a process that was intended to begin in January and was expected to last six months. Turkish officials said Turkey supports the cease-fire and had expressed concern that the wrangling over the implementation of the cessation of hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian aid were detracting attention from the need for a long-term political solution.
De Mistura said that if the cease-fire holds and a separate agreement gains steam to deliver humanitarian aid to areas that have been cut off from food and medicine by the fighting, he would call on the Syrian government and the opposition to restart peace talks March 7. “The big picture has been lost,” Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters in Ankara on Friday.
“There will be no shortage of attempts to undermine” the truce, he said in a video briefing to the Security Council. De Mistura plans to meet with the task force Saturday to assess early results. Rebel commanders said they feared the government and its Russian allies would use the lull to regroup and reinforce their positions before resuming offensives. The truce culminates months of advances by the government that have seen the rebels lose vital territory around Aleppo and along the Turkish border in the northwestern province of Latakia, reinforcing government confidence that it can win the war outright.
In a statement Friday, the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, known as the High Negotiations Committee, said that 97 opposition factions would observe the agreement for two weeks to gauge its effectiveness. The Assad government also issued a statement of compliance. “Nothing has changed,” said Capt. Abdulsalam Abdulrazzak of the Noureddine al-Zinki rebel group, speaking from a front-line town west of Aleppo. “Russia and the regime consider the truce as a military tactic, not as a preparatory measure for a political solution.”
Under the agreement, reports of possible violations are to be transmitted by combatants to the outside operations centers via email, text message or telephone, leading to possible delays in adjudicating reported violations. In eastern Syria, dominated by the fight against the Islamic State, the war continued uninterrupted. In a surprise setback for Kurdish forces, Islamic State fighters launched an assault against the border town of Tal Abyad, whose capture last summer had been hailed by the U.S. military as a major success.
The agreement excludes the Islamic State and forces of Jabhat al-Nusra, whose fighters are interwoven with opposition groups in the Syrian northwest around Aleppo. Bombing campaigns by the United States will continue against the Islamic State, while Russia will continue to strike the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra. They swarmed through the streets, overran a cultural center and beheaded a tribal leader accused of cooperating with the Kurds before U.S. warplanes intervened to bomb the Islamic State’s positions.
Washington and Moscow — which are barely speaking to each other outside of the Syria negotiations — exchanged maps Friday delineating where they think the excluded forces are located. In an audio statement, Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani, a nom de guerre, urged fighters to “intensify strikes” against government forces. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, and its local Arab allies grouped under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces claimed at nightfall to have secured full control of the town. But the incident illustrated the continued danger presented by the Islamic State even to areas from which it has already been ejected, and notably those where mostly Kurdish forces have taken over mostly Arab towns.
DeYoung reported from Washington. Zakaria Zakaria in Gaziantep contributed to this report. Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
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