Daily Sabah
Despite declaring a unilateral 72-hour "regime of calm" covering all of Syria from 1 p.m. on Wednesday, which opposition groups welcomed, Syrian regime violated the cease-fire dozens of times in several areas of the war-torn country.
The military high command said in a statement on Wednesday that "a regime of calm will be implemented across all territory of the Syrian Arab Republic for a period of 72 hours from 1 p.m. on July 6 until 2400 [midnight] on July 8, 2016"
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) agreed to abide by the cease-fire in an online statement, but accused the regime of violating the cessation of hostilities. "Until now, [the regime] has not abided by what it has announced, in that it has launched a number of attacks in various areas today," it said in a statement.
The Jaish al-Islam opposition group also issued a statement in which it reported that the government and its allies had attacked the town of Maydaa, which Jaish al-Islam controls, as well as the opposition-held area of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that forces loyal to Bashar Assad regained area from opposition forces in northern Aleppo province and were coming close to a strategic road Thursday just a day after the cease-fire began.
The group said regime troops and allied paramilitary forces retook control of the area of Ketlet al-Jamae in the Mallah Farms, which overlooks the rebel-held Castello Road.
The advance puts Castello Road, the only supply route to the opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo, under the regime forces' direct fire, the observatory added.
Jaish al-Islam also said four of its fighters were killed trying to stop the army from cutting off Castello Road.
Syrian regime forces have been trying for months to recapture the strategic route.
"The opposition groups are engaged in fierce battles in their attempt to take back Ketlet al-Jamae because it is an important area for them," observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman said.
Aleppo has been divided since mid-2012 when opposition groups seized the east of the city, confining Assad's forces to the west.
Elsewhere, regime forces also attempted to advance in Eastern Ghouta and achieve a breakthrough in the countryside of Damascus amid intensive shelling and airstrikes.
The observatory said five airstrikes hit Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, killing two children.
The U.S. and Russia brokered a nationwide cease-fire in February, which held for a time but then collapsed under pressure of localized fighting and a failed political process to end the violence.
There have been attempts since then to reach short-term cessations of hostilities that are often region specific, but they have tended to be short lived.