PHOTOS: Boy injured by regime airstrikes on the Damascus suburb of Douma on Friday (AFP/Getty)


SATURDAY FEATURE

Darayya, the Bombed Damascus Suburb That Will Test the Ceasefire


Jump to Original Entry


UPDATE 1715 GMT: Despite reports of ceasefire violations, the White Helmets civil defense organization welcomes the general decrease in fighting:


UPDATE 1015 GMT: The opposition is claiming violations of the ceasefire by regime forces.

The Free Syrian Army said three of its fighters were killed in Latakia Province in western Syria during an attack at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).

The First Coastal Division said that it repelled the assault in the Jabal Turkman area near the Turkish border.

The Syrian army, enabled by intense Russian airstrikes, have pursued an offensive in northern Latakia since last October.

Claimed footage of an aerial attack on Saturday afternoon:

A pro-regime activist has confirmed the attacks on opposition-held areas in Latakia and Idlib Provinces, under the pretext of strikes on “Jabhat al-Nusra and friends”:

The rebel factions Jaish al-Islam said Assad regime forces dropped two barrel bombs and opened fire on its positions in the East Ghouta are near Damascus. Jaish al-Islam spokesman Islam Alloush said rebels responded with machine-gun fire.

Regime shelling also killed two Free Syrian Army members in the Khan al-Sheeh camp near Damascus, according to the Saif al-Sham faction.

The commander of Jaish al-Islam has warned that rebels will respond to any attack on the Damascus suburb of Darayya:

Fares Bayoush, head of the Fursan al-Haqq rebel group linked to the Free Syrian Army, also cautioned:

There are areas where the bombardment has stopped but there are areas where there are violations by the regime such as Kafrzita in Hama, via targeting with artillery, and likewise in Morek in northern Hama countryside….If these violations continue they may lead to the collapse of the agreement.

On another front, Syrian State television reported that two people died in a car bomb explosion in regime-held Salamiyeh in Hama Province. No one has claimed responsibility, but the Islamic State is suspected.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: A “cessation of hostilities” formally began across Syria at midnight, with the UN hoping for negotiations between the Assad regime and rebels on March 7.

The US-Russian proposal for a cessation was reportedly holding early Saturday.

Less than an hour before it came into effect, the UN Security Council unanimously supported the pause and demanded that all parties fulfil commitments to end hostilities and to allow “humanitarian agencies rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Syria by the most direct routes”.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, announcing the intention for “proximity talks” on March 7, said:

No doubt there will be no shortage of attempts to undermine this process. We are ready for it….

Let’s pray that this works because frankly this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace. Facts will tell.

The opposition-rebel High Negotiations Committee has accepted a two-week temporary ceasefire, seeking an end to all Russian and regime bombardment and access to aid. After initial reluctance, President Assad bowed to Moscow’s pressure and agreed to a halt of attacks except on the Islamic State, the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra, and “other terrorist groups” as defined by the UN.

On Friday, as the deadline approached, Russian and regime attacks were reported on opposition areas across Syria, including northern Aleppo Province — where both a foreign-led regime ground offensive and Russian-backed Kurdish assaults have pushed back rebels — and Latakia Province near the Turkish border.

Airstrikes also continued on the opposition-held areas in and near Damascus. They included Darayya, where regime forces have hoped to break into the long-besieged town, and Douma, where hundreds of peoples have been killed by bombings since last summer.