Syria truce more effective than first thought: US

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Syria’s two-month-old cessation of hostilities has been more effective than many in the Obama administration originally thought, the White House said Friday.

Having it in place “has reduced the violence and has allowed humanitarian organizations to do more of their important work in some communities that have been desperate for it for a while now,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

“It has proved to be more durable than I think most administration officials expected,” Earnest said.

The agreement has ushered in one of the quietest eras during the five-year conflict despite occasional breaches and continued attacks from al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch and Daesh -- both are excluded from the truce.

Asked if he thought the comparative lull in violence would allow for the U.S. to pursue a safe-zone in Syria, Earnest maintained that President Barack Obama’s disinclination has not changed.

“The president's long-standing opposition to this concept of a so-called safe zone in Syria is predicated on the idea that while it sounds good, it's much more complicated in practice to implement,” he said noting that it would require thousands of troops to guarantee.

He also warned that the policy “could move us in a direction of starting to partition Syria.”

During a call with his Russian counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Moscow to use its influence with the Syrian government to get Damascus "to comply with the cessation", the State Department said.

Violence has surged near Syria's second city, Aleppo, as Syrian government forces and Nusra Front and allied rebels continue to clash.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Syrian soldiers were killed in the clashes, as well as no less than 20 Nusra-aligned fighters.

The group uses a network of insiders on the ground in Syria to collect its information.

More than 250,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced by the Syrian conflict.