PHOTO: President Obama at a National Security meeting on Thursday
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On the eve of its implementation, the US and Russia have begun arguing over their plan for a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria.
The opposition-rebel bloc has accepted the proposal for a halt of fighting at midnight on Friday. President Assad has said he will comply if attacks continue against the Islamic State, the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra, and “other terrorist groups”.
However, doubts have already been raised that Russian and regime warplanes will continue bombing of opposition-held areas, possibly using the pretext that the target is Jabhat al-Nusra. A “Syrian military source” reinforced that scenario on Thursday, when he said that the intense bombardment of the besieged town of Darayya, southwest of Damascus, would continue.
There is evidence that the ones there are Nusra Front. They found documents, books, flags that point to the Nusra Front being in Daraya. In any place where there is Nusra Front, we will continue operations.
Video from opposition-held Anadan in northern Aleppo Province, repeated struck by Russian attacks:
A group of men in Idlib city chant against the ceasefire on Friday, demanding that President Assad leave power:
Obama Administration officials reinforced the concerns yesterday. One said that Moscow’s attacks in “the last three weeks to press their position”, leading to “general suspicion about Russia in the short term” and questions inside the Administration about whether the Russians will fully back the cessation.
Speaking before a National Security Council meeting, President Obama warned Moscow:
Everybody knows what needs to happen. All parties that are part of the cessation of activities need to end attacks, including aerial bombardment. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach areas under siege.
A lot of that is going to depend on whether the Syrian regime, Russia, and their allies live up to their commitments.
The coming days will be critical, and the world will be watching.
Airstrikes on opposition-held Jobar in Damascus today:
Russia: There is No “Plan B”
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry hit back at remarks of US Secretary of State John Kerry about an undefined “Plan B” if the cessation did not occur. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said:
We were confused when we heard first responses from Washington to the document. To be honest, we did not expect some officials to interpret this agreement in such a diametrically opposite way. Several officials in fact tried to cast doubt on the agreement signed by the presidents of Russia and United States.
Asked “Have the Americans told you anything about their Plan B for Syria?”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bluntly responded:
We have another priority right now….You’ve already said everything yourself about a Plan B: there isn’t one and never will be one.
A “senior US official” said on Friday that options under Plan B include increasing US Special Forces; training and assisting local “moderate” forces; recruiting help from other countries; and establishing a no-fly zone for refugees.
Russia and the US have cooperated on a draft UN Security Council resolution which “urges all Member States…to use their influence with the parties to the cessation of hostilities to ensure fulfillment of those commitments and to support efforts to create conditions for a durable and lasting ceasefire”.
The draft resolution also calls on all parties in the conflict to grant access to besieged areas and a resumption of peace talks “as soon as possible”.
Turkey: Ceasefire Does Not Apply If We Are Threatened
Turkey has also said that it will not comply with the ceasefire if it is threatened by Kurdish forces.
“This [Syrian cease-fire] deal is not binding for us when a party is of threat to Turkey, when Turkey’s security is at stake,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Thursday.
Davutoğlu continued with Ankara’s denunciation of the YPG, the militia of the Kurdistan Democratic Union Party (PYD):
For us, the YPG is a terror organization just like Deash [the Islamic State] and [Jabhat] al-Nusra. The deal did not designate the YPG as a terrorist organization…..
When Turkey’s security is at stake, Turkey will not get permission from or ask permission from anyone. We will do what is necessary because from that moment onwards, it will not be a Syrian issue but an issue for Turkey.
The Turkish Government maintains that the PYD and YPG are led by the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, which has waged an armed campaign for more than 30 years.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, “The PYD and the YPG need to be out of the scope of the cease-fire, just like [the Islamic State] is.”
Reports: Jabhat al-Nusra Withdraws from Towns Ahead of Cessation
Reports are circulating that the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra are evacuating fighters from towns in northern Aleppo Province, denying Russia, the Assad regime, and even the US from a pretext to attack.
Abu Salah, a civilian judge, spoke of withdrawal from Sarmada, “Nusra decided to evacuate its fighters from the town to avoid providing the West with an excuse to attack the Syrian people under the pretext of fighting Al Qaeda.”
The jihadists have also reportedly pulled out of al-Bara, Jebel al-Zawiyeh, and Maarat Misrin.
Report: Hezbollah’s Top Commander Killed
Elijah Magnier, a journalist close to Hezbollah, reports that the Lebanese organization’s field commander in Syria.
Magnier said Ali Fay’yad, also known as Alaa al-Bosni, died in ongoing battles with the Islamic State near the key town of Khanaser, east of Aleppo city.
Fay’yad joined Hezbollah in 1985 and fought in Bosnia in 1993. He led troops in battles in 2013 in Qalamoun and Mahin, then commanded units in Iraq in 2014 after the Islamic State took Mosul and moved south towards Baghdad.
Magnier reported that an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hamza Kazimi, was also slain.
The Islamic State briefly seized Khanaser, on the regime’s main supply route into Aleppo city, last weekend. Hezbollah, Iranian troops, and the Syrian Army reclaimed the town early this week but ISIS continued to hold the road to the north.
Fay’yad with General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guards:
US Government Agency Removes Webpage Linking Syrian Kurdish PYD to Turkish Insurgency PKK
The US National Counter-Terrorism Center has removed a webpage citing links between the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD).
The 2014 document of the NCTC, part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, described the Kurdish umbrella organization Kongra-Gel, which includes the PKK and the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK). It said “the PYD’s presence in Syria along Turkey’s border might pose a heightened threat to Turkey and increase tensions along the border”.
On Thursday, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said that he had “no authority to talk on how other US state institutions or a certain website defines the YPG”.
