Syria Truce Holding: US, Russia Agree to 48-Hour Extension

State Dept: Goal Is Indefinite Extension

by Jason Ditz,

Syria’s ceasefire is holding, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noting that there has not been a single death over the first 48 hours of the truce. The US and Russia have agreed to extend the ceasefire, which was initially set for 7 days, an additional 48 hours.

There have been dozens of claimed ceasefire violations over that period, with Russia claiming they’d documented 60 such incidents. Still, with no deaths to show for it, stray gunfire here and there is a dramatic improvement over the usual situation in the civil war.

The State Department, similarly grousing about violations, conceded violence was “significantly lower” and said that so long as that remains the case, there would be more discussion of more extensions, with an eye toward an indefinite extension of the deal.

Part of the deal was for 7 days of pause in strikes against the Nusra Front, with the US and Russia launching joint operations against Nusra afterwards. Several Pentagon officials have expressed opposition to this idea, but it seems to still be at least on the table.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/09/14/syria-truce-holding-us-russia-agree-to-48-hour-extension/