In push ahead of truce, Syrian troops take villages from IS

The parties on what has become perhaps the most brutal and confused battlefield in recent decades have until noon (5 a.m. ET) to declare themselves in or out.

Putin stressed that combat actions against Islamic State, the Nusra Front and other groups which the Syrian government regards as terrorists would continue.

The resolution also demanded the implementation of a previous council resolution on Syria adopted on December 18, 2015, which called for an end to attacks on civilians and infrastructure as well as a political settlement of the crisis.

“We pray to God that the cease-fire will continue”, said Ragheb Bashir Ali, 22.

“The temporary pause in fighting was brokered by the USA and Russian Federation, and is meant to be a confidence-building measure to jump-start peace talks between the warring parties”.

The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment.

The jihadist group also launched an attack on Tal Abyad in Raqa province, clashing with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) there.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday “hailed” the ceasefire in Syria and discussed ways of supporting it through cooperation between their armies, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Nusra Front on Friday called for an escalation in fighting, urging insurgents to intensify their attacks against Assad and his allies in a call that added to the dangers facing the fragile agreement.

Salamiya is a frontline between government forces and Islamic State fighters.

Nevertheless he said the frontline was quieter than before the agreement took effect.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for human Rights said the explosion was the work of IS, adding that the two killed were both soldiers.

The Russian coordination center at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia where Russian warplanes are based has 61 officers, who negotiate with groups willing to join the cease-fire and coordinate the deliveries of humanitarian aid.

Some gunfire had been heard shortly after midnight in the northern city of Aleppo, and there were some blasts heard in northern Homs province, but it was not clear what had caused them, Abdulrahman said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the USA didn’t expect to be able to judge the cease-fire’s success or failure within the first days or even weeks. In this connection, the United Nations Security Council demand the parties fulfill their liabilities and stop hostilities from midnight on February 27, 2016.

The Syrian government is expected to declare official support for the plan Friday to the U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who will then brief the United Nations Security Council.

Guns fell silent at midnight in suburbs around the capital and the bomb-scarred northern city of Aleppo, AFP correspondents said, after a day of intense Russian air strikes on rebel bastions.

On Sunday at least 140 people were killed in vehicle bombings in Homs and Damascus. The monitoring group said the air raids were conducted as the Syrian government’s artillery shelled the area, which is a stronghold of the Army of Islam rebel group.

” They must also allow “unhindered and sustained” access to humanitarian assistance missions and employ only “proportional force” in self-defense against those not party to the agreement”.