PHOTO: Residents walk near damaged buildings in Kafr Hamra in northern Aleppo Province, February 27, 2016 (Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)
UPDATE 1825 GMT: The opposition-rebel High Negotiations Committee has said that the Assad regime and Russia have carried out 26 airstrikes and committed “24 violations with artillery shelling and five ground operations… in 26 areas held by the moderate opposition”.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the HNC said the attacks had killed 29 people and wounded dozens.
The HNC also said it did not receive any maps outlining which areas were included in the ceasefire or documents explaining the monitoring mechanism.
The pro-regime Al-Watan daily said on Sunday that the maps were still being “kept secret”.
Saudi Arabia accused Russia of targeting “moderate opposition” groups.
“Things will become clearer in the coming days on whether the regime and Russia are serious or not about the ceasefire,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.
UPDATE 1635 GMT: Aftermath of a claimed Russian airstrikes on opposition-held Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib Province:
Seconds aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Jisr_alShghour#Idlb #Syria FEB 28
2 martyrs, 12 injured#Failedceasefire pic.twitter.com/ukonOxYoQy— AEJ خليل ้้้้้็็็็Ⓜ (@AEJKhalil) February 28, 2016
A pregnant woman was killed and twelve civilians, include seven children, were wounded.
A man flees with a child near a church damaged in the attacks:
Opposition activists claim that 12 people were killed and others wounded in Russian airstrikes near the town of Babis in western Aleppo Province.
Footage has also been posted on attacks on Talbiseh in Homs Province, causing casualties.
UPDATE 1445 GMT: Amid accusations that it has renewed bombing of opposition areas, Russia has tried to shift attention with the claim that Turkey has shelled the Kurdish-held border town of Tel Abyad in northern Syria.
Lieutenant-General Sergei Kuralenko said Russia’s military center had information of Turkish attacks with “large-caliber artillery”, citing “several channels, including representatives of the [Kurdish-led] Syrian Democratic Forces”.
Kuralenko said the Russian military had asked the Joint Operations Center in Jordan for an explanation.
“Turkish military sources” denied the Russian claims, saying neither the Kurdish militia YPG nor the Islamic State had been targeted.
The YPG, supported by airstrikes by the US-led coalition, captured Tel Abyad from the Islamic State in June 2015.
On Saturday, ISIS infiltrated the town, clashing with SDF units and reportedly storming the house of a tribal sheikh and beheading him. The YPG called in US airstrikes to repel the attack.
UPDATE 1045 GMT: Activists and rebels are reporting airstrikes on opposition-held areas this morning.
Multiple sources claims Russian attacks in Aleppo Province, including near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, and in Hama Province.
Aftermath of reported Russian bombing of Darat Izza in western Aleppo Province.
Video of one of the Russian strikes claimed on Hirbnafsah, southwest of Hama city:
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Syria’s cessation of hostilities generally held on its first day on Saturday, but some regime attacks were reported near Damascus and in the northwest of the country.
The Free Syrian Army said the Syrian military attacked in Latakia Province near the Turkish early Saturday morning. Three rebels were killed, but the assault was repelled.
Syrian helicopters dropped barrel bombs in the area and in neighboring Latakia Province, according to pro-regime activists.
Jaish al-Nasr, a group affiliated to the Free Syrian Army, claimed Assad forces fired mortars, rockets, and machine guns in Hama Province, as warplanes patrolled overhead. “Compared to the previous days it is nothing, but we consider that they broke the truce,” Mohamed Rasheed, head of the Jaish al-Nasr media office, said.
Mortars and gunfire in Rastan in Homs Province:
Near Damascus in the East Ghouta area, regime forces dropped two barrel bombs and opened fire, according to the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam, which responded with machine guns. Regime shelling killed two Free Syrian Army members and wounded four in the Khan al-Sheeh camp near the capital, according to the Saif al-Sham faction.
However, activists on all sides reported a sharp drop in violence in opposition-held areas across Syria. The White Helmets civil defense organization summmarized, “In comparison with past 4 years, today very quiet and Syria Ceasefire holding in the main. Long may it last.”
67 Deaths on Saturday
The ceasefire did not bring a halt to killing on Saturday, primarily because the cessation does not apply to Islamic State-controlled territory but also because attacks continued on some opposition areas.
The Local Coordination Committees reported 67 deaths, including 10 children and eight women.
Of the casualties, 21 were in Aleppo Province, with claimed Russian airstrikes on Darat Izza and Salloum villages, 11 were in Raqqa Province, and 8 in Deir ez-Zor Province.
Twelve people died in the regime attacks near Damascus, five perished in Latakia, three each in Idlib and Homs Provinces, and two each in Daraa and Homs Provinces.