As the clock ticks down to the agreed deadline of sundown today, militias in rebel-held areas of Aleppo and Idlib show little sign of abiding by the ceasefire conditions.
The deal, brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after marathon talks in Geneva, is being hailed as the best chance to bring hostilities to a halt, albeit temporarily, to allow humanitarian aid to access the war-torn cities of Aleppo and Idlib.
However, a series of airstrikes over the weekend rained death upon more civilians across the desolate cities, drawing a huge question mark over tonight’s deadline.
At least 74 people -13 children among these- lost their lives during the last 48 hours, as both sides of the conflict strive to make territorial gains in the hours before the ceasefire comes into effect.
The five-year long conflict has so far claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displaced a large portion of the civilian population.