Roundup: Large rebel bastion near Damascus to be excluded from ceasefire agreement

The city of Daraya in southwest of the capital Damascus will not be included in the ceasefire agreement between Russia and the United States, as the militants fighting there are with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, a military officer told Xinhua.

The Syrian army is committed to the cessation of hostilities, which have been agreed upon by Russia and the United States, said the officer in the city of Daraya, a main rebel bastion southwest of Damascus.

He, however, said the rebels fighting inside Daraya are with the al-Nusra Front, which is excluded from the cessation of hostilities deal along with the Islamic State (IS) group, as both designated as terrorist groups by the UN.

Russia and the United States agreed to enforce a cessation of hostilities starting from Feb. 27.

On Tuesday, the Syrian government and rebel groups accepted a plan for a cessation of hostilities beginning Saturday, as agreed upon by the United States and Russia.

During a tour in the military-controlled parts of the city on Wednesday, reporters were taken to the recently captured areas by the Syrian army.

The government forces have made notable gains in the last few hours, capturing areas about 800 meters deep into the city and two kilometers wide, the officer said, as Syrian helicopters were hovering overhead and firing at the very close rebel targets.

He added that the Syrian forces have been in control of two thirds of Daraya, noting that as many as 2,000 militants with the Nusra group are estimated to be entrenched in the remaining one third.

The officer noted that the military operation in Daraya will continue until fully dislodging the rebels.

Much of the areas where journalists were showed on Wednesday were in ruins, amid deafening heavy shelling from the government on the positions of the militants, who in return started sniping at the soldiers from a distance with their bullets whizzing nearby.

Daraya has seen heavy fighting during the Syrian conflict, as it was an early hotspot for anti-government protests.

The city fell to the Nusra Front at some point in the first half of 2012, and was re-captured twice by the Syrian government forces in 2012 and early 2013.

However, as of the summer 2013, fighting continued in the city with most of the municipality fell again to the Nusra Front and likeminded groups.

Earlier in the day, Syrian President Bashar Assad reassured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call that his administration will resolve to observe a cessation of hostilities as planned by Russia and the United States, according to state news agency SANA.

President Putin phoned Assad on Wednesday, in which both leaders discussed the current situation in Syria in light of the agreed upon ceasefire, according to SANA.

Both presidents also agreed on the need to continue the war against the terrorist-designated groups, namely the Islamic State (IS) and the Nusra Front.

In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that stopping the bloodshed in Syria is currently the main goal of all those interested in a political settlement in the war-torn country.

"The main goal is to stop the bloodshed in Syria and to prepare the ground for a settlement," Peskov said.

"Russia and the United States are using their influence and potential to bring parties with opposing views on the Syria settlement closer together," Peskov added.

For his part, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Syria would be hard to be held together if the cessation of hostilities did not succeed.

Kerry said if a political transition to a government to replace the current administration in Syria did not unfold, there would be options, in a reference to an undefined plan B the U.S. has, which could include military action.

His remarks raised the ire of the Syrian government, whose Foreign Ministry accused in a statement the U.S. and its allies of being responsible for the continuation of the conflict in Syria, through supporting terrorists.

The cessation of hostilities plan is deemed as the most ambitious plan that could have high success chances, due to the obvious international consensus to make it work.

If succeeded, the plan will be the rock on which the political track for Syria's nearly five-year-old conflict will start, observers say. Endit