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Less violence in Syria as truce takes effect

Syrian children playing on a trampoline during the second day of Eid al-Adha in Douma, outside Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday. Eid al-Adha is the holier of the two Muslim holidays. It marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj to Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Photo: MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA
Syrian children playing on a trampoline during the second day of Eid al-Adha in Douma, outside Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday. Eid al-Adha is the holier of the two Muslim holidays. It marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj to Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Photo: MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday sought to diffuse criticism of a US-Russian ceasefire agreement on Syria, arguing that without it violence would increase significantly with many more Syrians slaughtered or forced to flee the war-torn country.

The deal struck between Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday agreed to a seven-day period of reduced violence and increased humanitarian aid deliveries.

If the truce holds, US and Russia will begin to coordinate air strikes against Nusra Front and Islamic State militants in an agreed area. The plan aims to bring together the warring Syrian sides for talks on a political transition, which would involve Syrian president Bashar al-Assad stepping aside.

"It's a last chance to be able to hold Syria together," Kerry said.

"If you fail to get a cessation in place now, then the fighting is going to increase significantly. The alternative is to allow us to go from 450000 people who have been slaughtered to how many thousands more? That Aleppo gets completely overrun? That the Russians and Assad simply bomb indiscriminately for days to come and we sit there and do nothing?"

The five-year war has killed an estimated 430000 people since the start of the conflict, with roughly 11million made homeless in the world's worst refugee crisis.

Senior US military and intelligence have criticised the plan, saying Russia cannot be trusted. The plan envisions the US military sharing targeting information for strikes against militants with Russian forces. Kerry said the agreement had the support of US president Barack Obama, with whom he met on Tuesday.

"Well, the president is ready and I think the military therefore will be ready. Nobody's asking people to abrogate our standards, but it is important for us to keep our part of the bargain," Kerry said.

Kerry said moderate opposition fighters, backed by the US and Gulf allies, had been losing ground to Russian-backed government forces.

"The dynamic of Assad hammering them and Russia hammering them is going to drive them into the hands of Nusra and Isil," he said.

Twenty-four hours after the truce took effect, senior State Department officials said there had been a reduction in violence.

UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura declared that UN aid access should be possible soon, including to eastern Aleppo, the rebel-held half of the city that is under blockade. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the most intense fighting since the ceasefire began took place on Tuesday night in the village of Maan in Hama province.

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