Syria’s military announced over the weekend a 72 hour extension of the nationwide ceasefire which they declared for Eid al-Fitr. The ceasefire never really took hold in the first place, and so far the signs are that the continuation isn’t accomplishing much either.
Though there were a few parts of the country that saw relative calm during the Eid, the overall level of violence was said to be largely unchanged. Today, the fighting largely centered on Aleppo, where al-Qaeda-led rebels are fighting with the military over areas around a key supply road.
Although the military had initially presented the ceasefire as all-encompassing and nationwide, it appears to have excluded al-Qaeda and ISIS, albeit not explicitly so, as Syria and its allies have continued targeting both throughout, and publicly affirming such incidents.
Though the Eid ceasefire was seen as an effort at being conciliatory during an important Muslim holiday, it isn’t clear why there is an extension, as it doesn’t appear that most rebel factions plan to abide by it anyhow. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) had accepted the initial ceasefire, but has yet to comment on the extension.