Fresh Syria raids as Moscow sets January 23 peace talks

BEIRUT // Syrian warplanes launched strikes in several parts of the country on Wednesday despite a fragile truce, a monitor said, as Russia confirmed a January 23 date for new peace talks.

The negotiations, to be held in the Kazakh capital Astana, are intended to build on a ceasefire in effect since late December, brokered by Russia which supports the regime and Turkey which backs the rebels.

The truce has brought quiet to large parts of the country, but has been threatened by continuing violence, particularly near the capital Damascus.

From late Tuesday into early Wednesday, government warplanes hit opposition areas in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, and the Eastern Ghouta region near the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The overnight strikes in Idlib, in the north-west of the country, targeted positions belonging to former Al Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al Sham Front, which is not party to the ceasefire, the Observatory said.

The strikes on the town of Taftanaz killed three rebels from an Islamist group allied to the extremists, it said.

On Wednesday, government air strikes also hit Eastern Ghouta, the Observatory said.

The rebel-held region has been hit by artillery fire during the truce, but the air strikes – which killed a woman and wounded nine other people – were the first since the start of the ceasefire, the monitor said.

The Observatory also reported clashes and air strikes in the rebel-held Wadi Barada region, which has seen some of the most serious violence since the truce went into effect on December 30.

The region, some 15 kilometres north-west of Damascus, is the main water source for the capital, but supply has been cut since December 22.

Some 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs are suffering water shortages as a result, the UN says.

A Russian foreign ministry source said on Wednesday that the talks were scheduled for January 23, a date previously floated by Turkish officials.

“At this time there is no indication that the meeting will be postponed,” the source said, adding that work was under way to compile a list of participants.* Agence France-Presse