Syria opposition's Hijab says need general ceasefire, talks at dead end

Sporadic violence persisted in Aleppo on Wednesday as USA officials announced an agreement had been reached with Russian Federation to extend Syria's fragile cease-fire to the deeply contested northern city.

Aleppo has been the scene of the worst surge in fighting in recent days, wrecking the first major ceasefire of the five-year-old civil war, sponsored by the United States and Russian Federation, which had held since February.

Mark Toner, US Department of State spokesman said Wednesday, "Since this went into effect today at 00:01 in Damascus, we have seen an overall decrease in violence in these areas".

The current formula was not working, said Hijab, adding that the opposition had reached a dead end with President Bashar al-Assad in talks aimed at bringing at end to the war in Syria. So either something happens in these next few months, or they are asking for a very different track."The top American diplomat spoke following a meeting between the United Nations envoy for Syria and Russia's foreign minister in Moscow on Tuesday, a day after discussions with Kerry in Geneva".

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syrian state media say three people have been killed in renewed rebel shelling of government-held areas in the deeply contested northern city of Aleppo.

A February 27 truce between Assad's regime and non-jihadist rebels raised hopes for efforts to resolve the five-year conflict, but it has come close to collapse due to the recent surge in violence.

If Syria ignores Kerry's demands, the USA will completely shift its strategy to the war-torn country that has now suffered through five years of destructive civil war. A new round of UN-backed peace talks is set to start on May 10 in Geneva.

"USA and Russian military members will work together at a monitoring center in Geneva, Switzerland to keep tabs on the so-called cessation of hostilities in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said".

"The horrific fighting and bombardment in recent days, especially in and around Aleppo, is creating new areas with endless suffering and no access for humanitarians", Jan Egeland, who heads an global humanitarian task force for Syria, said in Geneva.

The special envoy said the operations center can help contain violence "through the influence each side can have". "That means the regime and the opposition alike", he told reporters.

Syrian regime and rebels continued to clash in the northern city of Aleppo ^[1] Wednesday, a monitoring group said, as worldwide efforts intensified to revive a major truce in the war-ravaged country.

Assad's government has made several attempts to wrest control of a portion of Aleppo and the rest of the province still under rebel control.

But such a local truce, also known as "a regime of calm", never materialized.

O'Brien gave a rundown of deadly incidents in which residential areas, medical facilities and ambulances were targeted by government war planes and non-state shelling.