Pray for Syria as Ceasefire Comes into Effect.
A number of areas of Syria have been rocked by bombing raids just hours after the US and Russia sealed an ambitious agreement aimed at breathing life back into a struggling peace process.
According to Al Jazeera, more than 100 people have been killed in a series of bombing raids on rebel-held parts of Aleppo province in the north of the country, and in Idlib in the north-west.
The worst strikes were in Idlib city, where they hit a crowded market, killing 55 civilians.
“A Russian fighter jet targeted a residential area and a market in Idlib,” said Al Jazeera’s Adham Abu al-Husam, reporting from the city as civil defence forces, firefighters and paramedics worked to pull survivors from the rubble.
“The marketplace was full of civilians shopping for the upcoming Eid holiday.”
In Aleppo, at least 46 people, including nine children, were killed in a bombardment of opposition-held areas.
The raids on Idlib and Aleppo were believed to have been carried out by Syrian army fighter jets, or those of its main ally Russia.
The surge in violence came hours after the US and Russia’s top diplomats announced the ceasefire agreement after 13 hours of talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The peace accord included a truce to start across Syria at sunset today, Monday 12th September, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.
The agreement also paves the way for joint US-Russian raids against hardline groups in Syria, including the ISIL and Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
- Pray for Syria, for the ceasefire agreement to come into effect today, and for all parties to hold true to this ceasefire across Syria.
- Pray for the ongoing peace process, and the process of restoring Syria. Pray for healing for this nation and for the millions of men, women and children impacted by years of war.
- Pray for the Syrian government to allow full aid convoys into cities such as Aleppo, where food and medical aid is desperately needed.
- Pray for the Syrian Church and believers, to hold onto the hope that is in Christ Jesus and to be a light in the darkness of this nation, a beacon of hope and healing, that many people will come to know the comfort, love and grace of Jesus.
Isaiah 52 vs 10: “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news