Syria's failed ceasefire and Assad’s war on terrorism (Bernard Selwan Khoury, Aspenia online)

After five years of incessant hostility that often alluded to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and witnessed the birth of the so-called Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s so-called “caliphate”, a ceasefire was reached on February 27 between the forces loyal to Assad and the varied array of rebel groups. The ceasefire was planned and announced by the US, which supports a few opposition groups, and Russia, which supports Assad. Two groups were excluded from the truce: the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and the local Al-Qaeda branch that is known as the Al-Nusra Front ('the Support Front').

http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/syrias-failed-ceasefire-and-assad%E2%80%99s-war-terrorism