Fierce clashes between rebels and Syrian regime forces broke out today around a military base near the northern town of Maaret al-Numan in the "first violation" of a ceasefire, a watchdog said.
"Violent clashes started around 10:30 am (0730 GMT) around the Wadi Deif base. The army responded by bombing the neighbouring village of Deir Sharqi. It is the first violation of the ceasefire," Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
He said that among the rebel fighters were members of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front, which had already indicated it would not abide by the truce, agreed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
There were no immediate indications from either the regime or the FSA that they considered the ceasefire had been violated.
Assad made a rare television appearance today, attending morning prayers as a ceasefire took effect for Eid al-Adha.
State television showed Assad, smiling and seeming relaxed, at an unidentified mosque in Damascus as the ceasefire, which both his regime and some main rebel group have conditionally accepted, took effect.
In a sermon at the prayers, imam Walid Abdel Haq called on Syrians to "stop quarrelling because you are all brothers." "Do you not see what has been happening for two years in the country, the destruction and death? Stop this," he said.
"Syrians must return to God to defeat this sectarian discord that they are trying to create in Syria. We must ourselves create a new Middle East and not the one trying to be imposed… by the enemies of Islam and of Syria." After the prayer, Assad was shown spending time with other worshippers, greeting and chatting with some of them.
As he did, a voiceover on the station hailed Assad's leadership.
"Here is the president greeting the people with his smile that expresses kindness," it said. "How beautiful is this meeting with the people's leader, the leader who is making every effort so that Syria is a country that shines." Assad is rarely shown in public, with his last televised appearance on 21 October when he met with UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
