US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands at a press conference in Geneva on September 9, 2016, where they announced a new plan for a ceasefire in the Syrian civil war and the foundation of a peace process. (AFP/Kevin Lamarque/Pool)
A week-long Syria truce deal brokered by the United States and Russia is set to expire Monday evening at 7 p.m., a senior military source in Damascus told AFP.
“The Syrian army had announced a freeze on fighting until Sunday night, but as Russia announced an extension, it will end on Monday at 7 p.m.,” the source told AFP.
“We do not know if the truce will be extended again,” he added.
The ceasefire deal came into force on the evening of September 12, with Syria’s army announcing a freeze on fighting across the country.
The main battlefronts subsequently saw a marked reduction in violence, but clashes broke out late last week in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, as well as east of Damascus.
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Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo, on September 11, 2016. (Ameer Alhalbi/AFP)
The deal was further strained by US-led coalition strikes on Syrian army positions in the east that killed dozens of government soldiers.
And on Sunday, the first air strikes since the cease-fire began hit rebel-held districts of the battleground city of Aleppo, killing one woman.
Residents of eastern Aleppo have been waiting desperately for promised aid deliveries into their neighborhoods.
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Moscow has accused rebel groups of violating the truce and said Washington would be responsible if the cessation of hostilities broke down.
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