BEIRUT — War planes attacked six towns in Syria’s northern Aleppo province early on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, a day after a cessation of hostilities agreement took effect.
Syrian opposition said the air strikes were carried out by Russian war planes in support of Syria’s government, but the Observatory which monitors the conflict said the identity of the jets was not clear.
“We do not know which planes carried out the strikes and also we are not sure if this is considered a breach to the truce because it is not clear if these towns are included in the truce,” the Observatory’s director Rami Abdulrahman said.
Syria’s state media did not mention the strikes. Russia’s defense ministry declined to comment.
The cessation of hostilities, agreed as part of a US and Russian plan, does not cover assaults on militants from Daesh or the Nusra Front — an Al-Qaeda affiliate that has called for an escalation of attacks on Friday.
Abdulrahman said some of the towns which were attacked, including Daret Azza, were controlled by Nusra Front and other Islamist groups.
Other attacks hit the villages and towns of Qabtan Al-Jabal, Andan, Hreitan, Kfar Hamra and Ma’aret Al-Arteek, the Observatory said, all in the west of the province where insurgents from the Free Syrian Army, who are covered by the truce, have operated.
Two videos sent by a rebel commander to Reuters shows a strike in another town, Harbnafseh, at 6.30am (0430 GMT)and another at 07:00am (0500 GMT) according to the voice in the video. The footage shows plumes of smoke rising into the sky.
Russia said on Saturday that it would suspend all flights over Syria for one day to ensure no targets covered by the truce were hit by mistake. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Saturday he expected “hiccups” in a cessation of hostilities that came into force at midnight Damascus time (2200 GMT) on Friday, and urged restraint in curbing any new outbreaks of fighting.
“There is a high chance we should expect such hiccups” in the pause in fighting brokered by the United States and Russia, he told reporters in Geneva after briefing the United Nations Security Council in New York via videolink.
“The important point is whether those incidents will be brought quickly under control and contained. That is going to be the test.”
Incidents in Damascus and Deraa were reported within the first few minutes of the cessation of hostilities, but those towns quickly calmed down, he said.
His office was investigating a report of another breach, De Mistura said without elaborating, and countries backing the Syrian peace process would meet on Saturday in Geneva to assess the state of the cessation of hostilities.
“Let’s pray that this works because frankly, this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people will have and have had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace. Facts will tell,” he said.
The cessation of hostilities will be monitored by the United States and Russia via centers in Washington, Moscow, Amman and the Syrian city of Latakia, and at the UN in Geneva.
In case fighting breaks out, the United States and Russia will alert the other countries backing the peace process. A military response should be a last resort and proportionate, he said.
If the cessation of hostilities holds, De Mistura plans to start a second round of peace talks between the warring parties on March 7, running for three weeks in the first phase.
The agenda would remain the same as in the first round, which De Mistura abruptly suspended on Feb. 3: a new inclusive government, a new constitution and new parliamentary and presidential elections within 18 months.
