MESOP SYRIA TODAY : Ceasefire? Regime Bombing & Fighting Escalate

19 Sep 2016 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – A six-day ceasefire appeared to be collapsing across parts of Syria on Sunday, as President Assad’s air force bombed several areas — including the city of Aleppo for the first time during the truce — and the Syrian military and rebels fought on two fronts. Monday is the day of decision for the US to develop its plan with Russia further, confirming whether it will proceed with a plan for intelligence-sharing on airstrikes against the Islamic State and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Fatah, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra.Washington has said that the Joint Implementation Center is dependent upon a successful ceasefire.

There is also no sign of delivery of aid, the supposed aim of the US-Russian initiative. The Assad regime continues to hold up two convoys, of 20 trucks each, which have sought to move from Turkey to eastern Aleppo city.

Regime warplanes hit several opposition districts in eastern Aleppo city on Sunday, including Kamal al-Jabal. Photographs and videos of casualties, some of them children, were posted.

The deadliest attack was on Dael in Daraa Province in southern Syria, where barrel-bombing killed 10 people and wounded dozens.There were also strikes on Ghanto in Homs Province. Damage in a school near the site of the attacks:Activists also report ground assaults by pro-Assad forces on the front southwest of Aleppo, trying to move farther into the 1070 housing complex.

Pro-Assad forces, enabled by regime bombing, recaptured the nearby artillery base and air force college to re-impose a siege on opposition areas of Aleppo. However, they were still unable to move beyond a corner of the 1070 complex.Intense clashes were also reported in the Jobar district in Damascus, where the regime’s air and ground forces have tried to defeat rebels since 2012.

Activists said rebel faction repelled both assaults. www.mesop.de