A car bomb tore through the calm of early morning Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha, killing five people and wounding 30 others, and leaving the four day ceasefire in doubt.
So far no group has claimed responsibility, but most suspicions are squarely on the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda inspired Islamist faction which publicly disavowed the ceasefire, and which was also accused of attacking the Syrian military base near Murat al-Numaan earlier today, sparking the only reported gunbattle in the nation.
This is certainly far short of the total ceasefire that UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had hoped for, but so far the indications are that violence is dramatically down and calm is prevailing in much of the country, at least temporarily.
Brahimi expressed hope that the brief ceasefire would give both sides at least some notion that negotiations are possible. Both the Syrian government and the rebel Free Syrian Army endorsed the deal, but with the smaller Islamist rebel blocs still causing trouble it is unclear if the ceasefire can hold.