Twelve Syrian rebel groups on Tuesday announced that they would freeze any discussions linked to the planned peace negotiations in Kazakh.
In a joint statement in Damascus, they said that the action was due to “breaches” by the Syrian Government in a four-day old ceasefire.
The statement by the groups noted that “because of the continued violations and the escalation of the situation, we (12 rebel groups) are determined to freeze all discussions linked to the Astana negotiations.”
The factions referred to talks planned for late January, organised by Russia, a close ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which backs the opposition rebels.
Among the factions which made the announcement were Jaish al Islam, al-Jibha al Shamiya and Fayleq al Sham.
A nationwide ceasefire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, went into effect in Syria on Friday, in new attempt to end the violence in the war-ravaged country and relaunch a peace process.
The fragile truce was held in some parts of the country, but several violations were reported on fronts, mainly at the outskirts of Damascus.
The truce excludes the Islamic State extremist militia, the formerly al-Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Sham Front and their affiliates, according to a Syrian army statement. (dpa/NAN)
