Despite a Nation-Wide Truce Fighting Still Rages On in Syria

On Wednesday the Syrian military announced that it was implementing a nationwide 72-hour truce in order to bring about ‘peace’ in the country.

The truce would effectively preside over the Eid holiday. Eid is a three-day Muslim holiday where individuals “break” the fasting period during Ramadan.

While some view this as a legitimate attempt from the government to be compassionate and understanding, in light of Ramadan, others are more skeptical due to the history of ceasefires collapsing relatively quickly in Syria.

Such truces or ceasefires are often announced at random with hardly any intent to abide by the outlined measures.

This year there have been many attempts at a cessation of hostilities by the Syrian regime and the Russian military forces who support them, but they have largely been for political gain and have been ignored completely by both the opposition and forces loyal to Bashar Al-Assad.

A prominent opposition group fighting in Syria named Jaish al-Islam, or known as the Army of Islam, has released statements claiming that the ceasefire has already been violated mere hours it was announced in and around the area of Eastern Ghouta in Damascus as well as other frontlines in the country.

A stiff pocket of resistance has been held up by opposition forces in Eastern Ghouta since the start of the war nearly 5 years ago.

On Wednesday a town in Eastern Ghouta, known as Maydaa, was on the verge of being seized by the government forces. Some reports are saying that the opposition forces have pulled out to the outskirts of the city and are attempting a counterattack to restore control over Maydaa.

Activists say that this ceasefire is an attempt for the regime to consolidate forces from other areas of the country and deploy them to Eastern Ghouta and Latakia to gain further ground in Ghouta and to stymie the recent rebel offensive in Latakia.

Unconfirmed reports also suggested that there was a large convoy of regime forces being deployed out of Aleppo.

Various opposition sources say that this is yet another example of the Assad regime committing violations in a war that has created so much destruction and death in the region.

As history shows, non-binding truces coming from the Syrian regime are rarely taken seriously by any parties in the conflict so change should not be expected in the foreseeable future.

Featured Image via Wikimedia