Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Deraa on September 12, 2016, as a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US went into effect across Syria. Mohamad Abazeed / AFP
Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Deraa on September 12, 2016, as a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US went into effect across Syria. Mohamad Abazeed / AFP
Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Deraa on September 12, 2016, as a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US went into effect across Syria. Mohamad Abazeed / AFP
Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Deraa on September 12, 2016, as a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US went into effect across Syria. Mohamad Aba

Syria ceasefire takes effect under US-Russia deal


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Aleppo // A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States took effect in Syria last night with clashes up until the final minutes and the most powerful rebel groups still not committed to the truce.

The initial 48-hour truce came into force at 7pm local time across Syria except in areas held by extremist groups like ISIL.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was “quiet” on nearly all fronts across the country.

Syria’s armed forces immediately announced a seven-day “freeze” on military operations, lasting to midnight next Sunday.

But opposition forces had yet to formally sign the agreement and the deal’s fragility was underscored just hours before the sunset when Bashar Al Assad vowed to retake the whole country from “terrorists”.

The agreement announced on Friday has been billed as the best chance yet to halt the bloodshed in Syria’s five-year civil war.

As well as bringing a temporary end to the fighting, it aims to provide crucial aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians.

In Aleppo, divided between a rebel-held east and regime-controlled west since mid-2012, fighting appeared to have stopped as the ceasefire took effect.

“I was checking the time all day, waiting for it to turn 7pm,” said Khaled Al Muraweh, a 38-year-old shopkeeper in the Furqan district of western Aleppo.

“I hope the ceasefire holds so I can see my brother who lives in the opposition-held part of the city.”

Just moments before the ceasefire came into force, the Observatory reported three people killed in regime shelling of Douma near Damascus.

Thirteen civilians were also killed in strikes in Idlib province on Monday afternoon. Bombardment rocked the central town of Talbisseh all day, finally quieting down as the truce came into effect.

“We spent Eid in our bomb shelters and basements,” said Hassan Abu Nuh. “For the past half hour, we haven’t heard anything, but we aren’t very hopeful... For Eid, I’m just planning on staying alive.”

The ceasefire will be renewed every 48 hours and, if it holds for a week, Moscow and Washington will begin unprecedented joint targeting of extremist forces.

World powers have thrown their weight behind this new deal after several rounds of peace efforts failed to end the conflict that has killed more than 400,000.

But Syria’s opposition and rebels are deeply sceptical and have asked for guarantees before endorsing the deal.

“We fear that Russia will classify all the Free Syrian Army [rebel factions] as terrorists,” said Salem Al Muslet from the High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition umbrella group.

Rebel groups on Sunday sent a letter to Washington saying they would “deal positively with the idea of the ceasefire” but listed several “concerns” and stopped short of a full endorsement.

*Agence France-Presse

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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Europa League final

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets