Tag Archives: ceasefire

Fighting, air strikes in ceasefire area east of Damascus: war monitor

FILE PHOTO: People are seen amid debris at a damaged site in Arbin, a town in Damascus countryside, Syria. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Fighting broke out east of Damascus between rebel and government forces on Wednesday for the first time since both sides declared a ceasefire at the weekend, a war monitor said, with air strikes also hitting the besieged, rebel-controlled enclave. civilian

Air strikes on three towns in East Ghouta killed a child and wounded 11 other civilians, taking the toll of wounded and dead to about 55 civilians in the last 48 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The toll is expected to rise.

On Tuesday, the Britain-based monitor reported the first casualties since the Russian-backed truce began on Saturday.

Russia dismissed reports of air strikes on Tuesday as a “an absolute lie” meant to discredit its work in the de-escalation zone.

Wednesday’s clashes happened around Ain Terma on the western edge of Eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta, the only major rebel-held area near the capital, has been blockaded by Syrian government forces since 2013. It has shrunk considerably in size over the past year as the Russia-backed Syrian army has taken control of other rebel-held areas around Damascus.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Iran: U.S.-Russia ceasefire deal should be expanded to cover all Syria

A Free Syrian Army fighter carries a weapon as he walks past damaged buildings in a rebel-held part of the southern city of Deraa, Syria July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir

LONDON (Reuters) – A partial ceasefire in southwestern Syria agreed between the United States and Russia should be expanded to all of Syria if it is to be successful, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The United States, Russia and Jordan announced a ceasefire and “de-escalation agreement” for the southwest on Friday and starting on Sunday after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg.

“The agreement can be fruitful if it is expanded to all of Syria and includes all the area that we discussed in Astana talks for de-escalating the tension,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

In Astana peace talks, Russia, Turkey and Iran tried to finalize an agreement on creating four de-escalation zones in Syria but failed to reach an agreement.

Russia and Iran are the main international backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Washington supports some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.

“Iran is seeking Syria’s sovereignty and security so a ceasefire cannot be limited to a certain location…No agreement would be successful without taking the realities on the ground into account,” Qasemi added.

Previous similar ceasefires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants — Assad’s government forces and the main Syrian rebel armies in the southwest — are committed to this latest effort.

Qasemi said Iran has been fully informed by the Russians on the ceasefire agreement but added that they see some “ambiguities in the deal mainly related to the American recent measures in Syria”.

 

 

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

 

U.N. lauds U.S.-Russian truce in Syria, but warns on partition risk

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attends a news conference during the Intra Syria talks at the U.N. offices in Geneva, Switzerland

By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – Agreements to de-escalate the fighting in Syria could simplify the conflict and help to stabilise the country, but such accords must be an interim measure and avoid partition, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura told a news conference on Monday.

Speaking at the start of five days of peace talks in Geneva, de Mistura said discussions were being held in Amman to monitor implementation of a ceasefire for southwest Syria brokered by the United States and Russia, the first peacemaking effort of the war by the U.S. government under President Donald Trump.

“When two superpowers … agree fundamentally at that level in trying to make that ceasefire work, there is a strong chance that that will take place,” he said. So far, the agreement that went into force mid-day on Sunday was broadly holding, he added.

He also struck a positive note on ceasefire talks in the Kazakh capital Astana last week, which failed to agree on a monitoring mechanism for a Russian-Iranian-Turkish de-escalation deal but produced a lot of work “in the right direction”.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Turkey discussing a particular problem area on Monday, the rebel-held town of Idlib in Syria, de Mistura said, adding that it was a deal that “could almost have been announced”.

The world was perhaps witnessing the simplifying phase of the most complex conflict of our time, the veteran mediator said, adding that de-escalation of the war must be an interim phase and not undermine Syria’s territorial integrity. It should lead rapidly to a stabilisation phase, he said.

“This could become very much a priority anyway just after the liberation of Raqqa,” de Mistura said, referring to the Islamic State stronghold in northeastern Syria.

Asked if the war was ending after almost six and a half years and hundreds of thousands of deaths, de Mistura said several stars were aligning – on the ground, regionally and internationally.

“In that sense … there is a higher potential than we are seeing in the past for progress.”

De Mistura said he was not expecting breakthroughs in this week’s talks, but he had had a working lunch with the heads of the three rival opposition delegations, and he hoped that they could work together more.

In six rounds of talks since early 2016, the fractured opposition has never united in one delegation, meaning that de Mistura cannot hold face-to-face talks between the Syrian government and a single, united opposition delegation.

 

(Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Larry King)

 

U.N. deputy Syria envoy hopeful for southwest ceasefire deal

United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy talks to press in Damascus, Syria July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A ceasefire deal agreed for southwestern Syria is a positive development that could help prop up the political process aimed at ending the country’s six-year war, the U.N. Deputy Special Envoy for Syria said on Saturday.

“This is a step in the right direction,” Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy told reporters in Damascus.

The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a ceasefire and “de-escalation agreement” for southwestern Syria set to take effect on Sunday. The announcement came after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit of major economies.

Previous ceasefires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants in the area – Syrian government forces and the main rebel groups in the southwest – are committed to this latest effort.

“All of this leads to supporting the political process,” Ramzy said after meeting with government officials about U.N.-based peace talks that open in Geneva next week.

“This development helps create the appropriate environment for the talks,” he added, expressing hope that agreements would be reached for other parts of Syria as well.

Among other issues, the latest round of U.N. peace talks, due to start on Monday, will include “continuing technical negotiations about the constitutional and legal matters related to the political process,” Ramzy said.

(This version of the story corrects the spelling of the envoy’s name in the second reference)

(Reporting by Firas Makdesi in Damascus; editing by John Stonestreet and Stephen Powell)

Germany sees ‘very difficult’ situation in eastern Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, June 5, 2017.

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday that both Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists were violating a ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine and it would likely be difficult to resolve the crisis in the short term.

“It’s very difficult to find a way out after so many years,” Gabriel told an event hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Of course we are trying, but it does not look like we will have a (short-term resolution) of the difficulties in the region.”

Gabriel said he backed continued efforts by the so-called “Normandy format” group – involving Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia – to resolve the crisis, but observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were not optimistic, given the situation in the region.

“I have no good messages on this issue,” he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Joseph Nasr)

Syrian army declares 48-hour ceasefire in Deraa

People ride a motorbike past a damaged building in a rebel-held part of the southern city of Deraa, Syria, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian army said it would suspend combat operations in the southern city of Deraa for 48 hours from Saturday, according to a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

A war monitor said the level of violence had fallen three hours after the ceasefire was due to take effect, but rebels said the city was still being bombarded.

The army general command said the ceasefire was due to take effect at 12 noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday and was being done to support “reconciliation efforts”.

The Syrian army and Iran-backed militia forces have escalated attacks against a rebel-held part of Deraa city in recent weeks, in a possible prelude to a large-scale campaign to wrest full control of the city.

But a rebel commander in Deraa told Reuters hostilities had not stopped.

“We have not heard of any such talk and the regime is still attacking us with the same intensity,” the commander said at 3:30 PM (1230 GMT).

The United States and Russia have been holding talks on creating a “de-escalation zone” in southwestern Syria which would include Deraa province, on the border with Jordan, and Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Deraa city lies within an existing plan brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana, in May to create four de-escalation zones in Syria. Since May, violence levels have vastly reduced in some of those proposed de-escalation areas, but fighting has continued on major frontline areas including in Deraa city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said there had been a decline in the pace of fighting and shelling in the city for the three hours since the ceasefire came into force. But the Britain-based monitor said some shells and air strikes had continued to hit parts of the city.

“There are breaches and we are distrustful of the regime’s intentions in abiding by the ceasefire,” Major Issam al Rayes, spokesman for the Southern Front grouping of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, told Reuters.

“The regimes forces have stopped their military operations after big losses in equipment and men since the start of their campaign over a month ago … after the failure of repeated attempts to advance,” Rayess said.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Syria fighting eases as Russian deal takes effect

FILE PHOTO: Relief workers unload humanitarian aid in the rebel-held besieged Syrian town of Douma. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

By Lisa Barrington

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Fighting between Syrian rebel and government forces eased on Saturday as a Russian-led effort to shore up a ceasefire took effect, although battles continued on an important frontline near Hama, a rebel commander and war monitor said.

The deal to create “de-escalation” zones in the major areas of conflict in western Syria took effect at midnight. The initiative was proposed by Russia, President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally, with the support of Turkey, which backs the opposition. Iran, Assad’s other major ally, also backed it.

Political and armed opposition groups have rejected the proposal, saying Russia has been unwilling or unable to get Assad and his Iranian-backed militia allies to respect past ceasefires. The Syrian government said it backed the proposal but said it would continue to fight what it called terrorist groups across the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been a reduction in fighting across Syria since the deal came into force, but warned it was too early to say whether it would last.

“The reduction in violence must be clear and lasting,” Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters.

The rebel commander said the general level of violence was reduced, but added: “Regime attempts (to advance) in the Hama countryside continue.”

With the help of Russia and Iranian-backed militias, the Syrian government has gained the military upper hand in the six-year conflict. The wide array of rebel groups include some supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

The Observatory said it had not recorded any deaths as a result of fighting in the four zones since midnight, but there had been some violations.

Breaches were seen mainly in northern Hama province, where Syrian government and allied forces have taken territory from rebels in recent weeks.

Fighter jets fired at the rebel-held village of al-Zalakiyat and nearby positions in the northern Hama countryside, where the combatants exchanged shelling, the Britain-based war monitoring group said.

The Observatory said government forces shelled the nearby towns of Kafr Zita and Latamneh. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian army.

Mohammed Rasheed, a spokesman for the Jaish al-Nasr rebel group based in Hama, confirmed that fighting had broken out after midnight.

Rasheed said rebel-held Idlib province to the north of Hama was almost completely quiet, but the attacks, which included barrel bombs, were focused on the northern Hama frontline area.

“The bombardment has not stopped, it is no different from before,” he told Reuters.

THE DEAL

Iran and Turkey agreed on Thursday to a Russian proposal for de-escalation zones in Syria. The text of the memorandum was published by the Russian foreign ministry on Saturday.

The agreement said four de-escalation zones would be established in Syria for a period of six months which could be extended if the three signatory countries agree. Weaponry and air strikes were not to be used in those zones by combatants, the text said.

The agreement also included creating conditions for humanitarian access, medical assistance and the return of displaced civilians to their homes.

This initiative is the most serious effort to reduce violence and shore up a ceasefire first declared in December since western states accused Damascus of a chemical attack in early April on rebel-held Idlib province.

The chemical incident prompted the U.S. to fire dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said the attack had been launched, increasing tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

The de-escalation zones appear intended to halt conflict in specific areas between government forces and rebels, and would potentially be policed by foreign troops.

The deal was negotiated at Russian-brokered talks in Astana which have taken place this year outside of United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura hailed the plan as a step in the right direction towards a real cessation of hostilities. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was encouraged by the agreement.

The U.S. State Department voiced concerns about the deal, saying it was skeptical of Iran’s involvement as a guarantor of the accord and Damascus’ track record on previous agreements.

“We continue to have concerns about the Astana agreement, including the involvement of Iran as a so-called ‘guarantor’,” the State Department said in a statement on Thursday. “Iran’s activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it.”

THE ZONES

The Russian defense ministry had said the agreement would come into force as of midnight Damascus time on Friday and encompass four zones.

The largest zone, in northern Syria, includes Idlib province and adjoining districts of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia with a population of over 1 million, the memorandum text said.

The other three zones are in northern Homs province, the Eastern Ghouta region east of Damascus and along the Jordanian border in southern Syria.

But one part of the Eastern Ghouta zone, Qaboun, is exempt from the deal, Defence Ministry official Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi said on Friday. He said this was because Qaboun contained the al-Qaeda-linked group formerly known as the Nusra Front.

On Saturday the Observatory said rockets hit Qaboun where the government has been pressing an offensive for several weeks.

(Additional reporting by Ellen Francis in Beirut and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow; Editing by Tom Perry and Keith Weir)

Russia, Turkey, Iran discuss Syria ceasefire implementation in Astana

Russian soldiers patrol a street in Aleppo Syria

ASTANA (Reuters) – Experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations held a technical meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, to discuss in detail the implementation of the Syrian ceasefire agreement, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

“Representatives of Jordan are expected to take part for the first time,” a ministry spokesman said of the talks.

He said the agenda included reviewing the implementation of the cessation of hostilities, discussing a proposal from the Syrian armed opposition about the ceasefire, and determining options about how to implement it.

Fighting and air strikes have plagued the ceasefire agreement between the government and rebel groups since it took effect in late December, with the combatants accusing each other of violations.

“This is about creating a mechanism to control the implementation of the ceasefire,” the ministry spokesman said.

The ministry gave no information about the line-up of the delegations, who were meeting behind closed doors.

After the talks, Russian negotiator, chief command official Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, said the sides had also discussed preventing provocations and securing humanitarian access.

“The delegations have confirmed their readiness to continue interaction in order to achieve the full implementation of the cessation of hostilities in Syria,” he said.

(Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Kiev and Kremlin trade blame over surge in east Ukraine fighting

Russian/Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gives news briefing on Ukraine situation

KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine and Russia blamed each other on Tuesday for a surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine over recent days that has led to the highest casualty toll in weeks and cut off power and water to thousands of civilians on the front line.

The Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists accuse each other of launching offensives in the government-held industrial town of Avdiyivka and firing heavy artillery in defiance of the two-year-old Minsk ceasefire deal.

Eight Ukrainian troops have been killed and 26 wounded since fighting intensified on Sunday – the heaviest losses for the military since mid-December, according to government figures.

“The current escalation in Donbass is a clear indication of Russia’s continued blatant disregard of its commitments under the Minsk agreements with a view of preventing the stabilization of the situation and achieving any progress in the security and humanitarian spheres,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The peace deal was agreed in February 2015, but international security monitors report ceasefire violations on a daily basis, including regular gun and mortar fire.

The latest clashes mark the first significant escalation in Ukraine since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose call for better relations with Moscow has alarmed Kiev while the conflict remains unresolved.

Ukrainian authorities said they were prepared for a possible evacuation of Avdiyivka’s 16,000 residents, many of whom have little or no access to electricity or water after shelling from the separatist side hit supply infrastructure.

Meanwhile Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian government troops had launched a deadly attack on pro-Russian rebels across the Avdiyivka front line on Monday.

“Such aggressive actions, supported by the armed forces of Ukraine, undermine the aims and the task of realizing the Minsk accords,” he said, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of organizing the offensive as a ruse to try to distract attention from domestic and other problems.

Close to 10,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev erupted in April 2014.

Ukraine and NATO accuse the Kremlin of supporting the rebels with troops and weapons. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its annexation of Crimea.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets in Kiev, Katya Golubkova in Moscow; Writing by Alessandra Prentice in Kiev and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Editing by Christian Lowe and Mark Trevelyan)

Expectations low as Syria’s warring sides meet

hotel hosting the Syrian preace talks

By Olzhas Auyezov and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

ASTANA (Reuters) – Syria’s warring sides met for talks for the first time in nine months on Monday, with frosty initial exchanges suggesting chances of a significant breakthrough were slim as the country’s six-year-old conflict ground on.

They sat opposite each other at a round table in a hotel conference room before a day of negotiations – sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana – got under way.

Both delegations said the focus was on the country’s ceasefire, a fragile precursor to a wider political solution.

But Bashar al-Jaafari, the head of the delegation representing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said negotiators for the rebel forces had been rude and unprofessional, accusing them of defending “war crimes” committed by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the militant group formerly known as Nusra Front.

A rebel source said opposition representatives planned to negotiate with the government side only via intermediaries.

Mohammed Alloush, the head of the opposition delegation, told delegates he wanted to stop “the horrific flow of blood” by consolidating the shaky ceasefire and freezing military operations, saying Iran-backed militias had to leave Syria.

Russian news agency TASS cited a draft communique in which Moscow, Ankara and Tehran would commit to jointly fighting Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and set up a mechanism for trilateral monitoring of the ceasefire, which took effect on Dec. 30.

But fundamental divisions also remain between pro-Assad Russia and Turkey, which has supported anti-Assad rebels – including whether Syria’s president should stay in power or, as the rebels are demanding, step down.

There were no senior government figures among the delegations in Astana and Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said it expected the meetings to be over by midday on Tuesday.

OVERSEEING CEASEFIRE

Some observers said the talks, which UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is attending, could help jump-start U.N.-led negotiations that were suspended in late April.

De Mistura said it was crucial to get a mechanism to oversee and implement a nationwide ceasefire in place to build confidence.

“That by itself … would be a major achievement,” he said, adding he hoped Astana could pave the way for direct talks between the government and opposition in Geneva next month.

The Astana talks pointedly exclude the West, though Kazakhstan, with the backing of Moscow and Ankara, extended an invitation to the new U.S. administration last week, which Washington declined.

Iranian officials have said they strongly oppose U.S. involvement, though George Krol, the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, attended as an observer.

Turkey and Russia – each for their own reasons – both want to disentangle themselves from the fighting. That has pushed them into an ad hoc alliance that some people believe represents the best chance for progress towards a peace deal, especially with Washington distracted by domestic issues.

The opposition arrived in Astana aware that the fall of their former urban stronghold, Aleppo, has shifted the momentum in the fighting in favor of Assad.

On Sunday, war planes bombed rebel-held areas of western Syria, killing 12 people in one location, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while insurgent shelling of Aleppo killed six.

“The ceasefire is clinically dead, but the Russians and Turks want to keep it alive to send a message to the international community that they are the ones in charge of the Syrian situation,” said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

(Additional reporting by John Irish, Denis Dyomkin and Kinda Makieh in Astana, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Dubai and Thomas Perry in Beirut; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov/Christian Lowe/Andrew Osborn; Editing by John Stonestreet)