Syria truce offers glimpses of normality

AMMAN: In the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo, children are outside playing and many people are going to the shops safely for the first time in months thanks to a partial halt to the war that is providing relief even if most doubt that peace will take hold.

"Look at the markets. Where were all these people hiding?" said a bewildered Mahmoud Ashrafi, speaking to Reuters by telephone after picking through opposition-held areas of Aleppo wrecked by barrel bombs and air strikes.

While the "cessation of hostilities" has fallen short of halting the five-year-long war across the country, parts of Syria have enjoyed an unusual period of peace since the US-Russian agreement came into effect on Saturday.

The United Nations hopes the agreement will allow for peace talks to get under way towards settling the conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people and created refugee crises in the Middle East and Europe.

More aid has been delivered into opposition-held areas since the agreement came into effect.

Just a few weeks ago, Syrians in opposition-held parts of Aleppo were trying to leave, fearing President Bashar al-Assad’s advancing forces were about to impose a siege after cutting rebel supply lines north of the city.

But this week, some of those who fled Aleppo, which has seen some of the Syrian war’s worst bombing and house-to-house fighting, have returned.

Aleppo resident Jamila al-Shabani said she had been out seeing parts of the city she had not visited in a long time because of what she described as her "self-imposed confinement" at home. "People were afraid to go out," she said.

"The park yesterday was a beehive where children and families flocked," added Abdullah Aslan, another Aleppo resident contacted by Reuters.

"It was lovely and sunny. The park was full, people now when they go out with their families feel safer," he said.

Before the war, tourists enjoyed Aleppo, Syria’s second city and one of the oldest inhabited in the world.

Architectural gems -- bathhouses, palaces, churches and mosques -- studded Aleppo’s streets, making it one of the richest historical sites in the Middle East.

Souks that traced their history back four millennia sold spices, the city’s trademark laurel soap and the antique textiles that were coveted in Europe.

Residents contacted by Reuters described bustling scenes in the market, some likening it to the last-minute rush before the start of a big religious holiday.

"People are more assured," said Abdul Munim Juneid, an orphanage supervisor.

On the other side of the city, which is under government control, residents have also noticed a drop in insurgent shelling.

But like Syrians in rebel-held territory, residents remain cautious and fearful. "Now, to a small degree, it is different. But there is still fear that any moment they will shell peaceful neighbourhoods," said 28-year-old Suheib Masry.