Violence rages before truce

Syria's opposition was weighing whether to take part in a truce brokered by Russia and the United States due to start today, after air strikes killed dozens in rebel-held areas.

Brokered after marathon talks by the Russian and US foreign ministers, the ceasefire has been billed as the best chance yet to end Syria's five-year civil war.

Key regime ally Iran and its ally Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah welcomed the plan yesterday and called for "comprehensive monitoring" of the truce, particularly along Syria's volatile borders.

But even as world powers threw their support behind the agreement, scores were reported dead from a barrage of unidentified raids in two key northern cities in opposition-held territory.

At least 62 people, including 13 women and 13 children, were killed in Saturday's bombardment on Idlib city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said yesterday.

The strikes hit several areas in the rebel-held city, including a market full of shoppers preparing for the Muslim holiday of Eid-ul-Azha, which begins today.

Fresh bombardment also hit the battleground city of Aleppo yesterday, the Observatory said, a day after 12 civilians were killed in unidentified raids there. No information on casualties from yesterday's bombardment was immediately available.

State news agency SANA on Saturday reported that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government "approved the agreement".

Syria's main opposition group the High Negotiations Committee -- which brings together political dissidents with armed rebel factions -- had yet to formally respond.

Leading rebel figure Mohammad Alloush yesterday said the agreement was "still being studied".

HNC member Bassma Kodmani told AFP on Saturday that her group "cautiously welcomed" the deal but was sceptical that Damascus would comply.

Ahmad Saoud, head of the US-backed Division 13 rebel group, wrote on Twitter he was "starting to feel that the truce is a military trap to kill us even more."

And hardline Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, which works closely with former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, yesterday said it was "still discussing the points of the truce."

The agreement was reached after talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

It would see fighting and indiscriminate air attacks halt across the country, starting at sundown on Monday for a period of 48 hours, which could then be renewed.

To get aid into the battered second city of Aleppo, a "demilitarised zone" would be established around the Castello Road into the city.

If the ceasefire holds for one week, the US and Russia could start joint operations against jihadists from the Islamic State group and Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.