The US and Russia agreed a tentative ceasefire deal for Syria late on Friday night, intended to lead the way to a joint US-Russian air campaign against Islamic State and other extremist groups and new negotiations on the country’s political future. But the Russian foreign minister said Russia had secured the agreement of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus. The Syrian air force would stay out of zones being targeted by the US and Russia. If the ceasefire holds for the first week, US and Russian military officers would form a joint cell to plan and coordinate airstrikes against Isis and al-Nusra. Disentangling them from their allies on the ground will be one of the biggest challenges of maintaining the ceasefire deal.

Source: The Guardian September 09, 2016 23:12 UTC