Most parties unready for Syria truce to start at sunset

Hours before the ceasefire bokered by the US and Russia was due to go into effect Monday at sundown, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced on state media that he plans to "reclaim every area from the terrorists," although he had earlier indicated he would abide by the truce. Monday also saw fresh bombardment of rebel areas in northern Syria after a weekend in which more than 90 civilians died from Syrian air strikes over Idlib and Aleppo provinces. After marathon talks in Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov had agreed Saturday on a 10 day truce in the fighting in Syria, followed by coordination between their air forces against "extremist" groups including ISIS. But many rebel groups, feeling abandoned by their US and Arab sponsors, are likely to try and capitalize on any cessation of hostilities, rather than upholding it.