Syrian warplanes resumed bombardment (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights [website] report) outside of Damascus Sunday after ceasing for almost one day. The strikes are continuing in spite of a ceasefire agreement reached just days before. Hundreds fled the rebel-controlled Wadi Barada valley between assaults. Both sides have been accused of violating the truce, with rebel officials stating that the government air raids are clearly against its terms. Other news outlets have reported that the attacks may have been targeting groups outside of the terms of the deal, which rebel groups say is not the case.

The Syrian Civil War [JURIST backgrounder] has been ongoing since 2011 when opposition groups began protesting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. In December a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling party said on that the government was pushing for a Syrian cease-fire [JURIST report] to be in place by 2017. Also last month the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish an independent panel to investigation possible war crimes [JURIST report] in Syria.