Russia to Deploy Monitors in Southwest, Says U.S.

A senior United States official said on Thursday that Russia has agreed to dispatch monitors to southwestern Syria to prevent violations of the cease-fire by the Assad government, Reuters reported.

“The Russians have made clear they’re very serious about this and willing to put some of their people on the ground to help monitor from the regime side,” said Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy for the coalition against the so-called Islamic State. “They do not want the regime violating the cease-fire.”

The U.S., Russia and Jordan announced a cease-fire in southern Syria on Sunday after a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin.

Despite reports of sporadic violence since Sunday, the cease-fire has held in the affected southern provinces of Daraa, Sweida and Quneitra.

U.S. Seeks to Expand Ceasefire Area

The U.S. is working to expand the cease-fire in southwestern Syria to a second zone, President Trump said on Thursday, according to Bloomberg.

Speaking from Paris, the U.S. president said the cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia, the U.S. and Jordan last week had saved “a lot of lives.”

“We’re working on a second cease-fire in a very rough part of Syria,” Trump said. “And if we get that, and a few more, all of a sudden you’re going to have no bullets being fired in Syria. And that would be a wonderful thing.”

Special envoy McGurk said the president’s comments were “referring to a very constructive discussion that he had with the Russians in building from this southwest agreement,” Reuters reported.

The U.S. has had “very constructive … military-to-military discussions with the Russians about de-confliction arrangements” in recent weeks and is keen to explore the possibility of cease-fires in other areas, he added.

Government Pounds Damascus Suburb

Pro-government warplanes carried out at least 15 raids on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta suburbs of the capital, Damascus, on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Airstrikes targeted the areas of Kafr Batna, Hazza, Ain Tarma and the Jobar neighborhood, killing at least two people and wounding 10 more, according to the United Kingdom-based monitoring group.

The shelling coincided with fierce clashes between supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and armed rebel groups in Ain Tarma and Jobar.

Pro-government forces have been advancing in the area since last month, in a bid to recapture territory from Syrian rebels outside the capital.

Recommended Reads:

• The Atlantic: Trump’s Syria Cease-Fire Is Doomed
• Newsweek: Why the Syria Cease-Fire Suits Both Putin and Trump
• Al Monitor: Jordan Sees Big Gains in South Syria Cease-Fire
• The Los Angeles Times: Warriors, Dreamers and Just Plain Crazy: U.S. Civilian Volunteers Fighting Islamic State in Syria
• The Washington Times: Waking Up to the Enemy in Iran