Al-Qaida-linked group in Syria says truce 'humiliating'

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian citizens gather next to damaged cars at the scene where explosion hit a commercial street, in the costal town of Jableh, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A large explosion hit a Syrian government-held coastal town on Thursday, killing and wounding several people, according to Syria's state TV an attack that undermined a nearly week-old and already shaky Russia- and Turkey-brokered cease-fire. (SANA via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian citizens gather at the scene where explosion hit a commercial street, in the costal town of Jableh, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A large explosion hit a Syrian government-held coastal town on Thursday, killing and wounding several people, according to Syria's state TV an attack that undermined a nearly week-old and already shaky Russia- and Turkey-brokered cease-fire. (SANA via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian citizens and security forces gather next to damaged cars at the scene where explosion hit a commercial street, in the costal town of Jableh, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A large explosion hit a Syrian government-held coastal town on Thursday, killing and wounding several people, according to Syria's state TV an attack that undermined a nearly week-old and already shaky Russia- and Turkey-brokered cease-fire. (SANA via AP) (The Associated Press)

An al-Qaida-linked group in Syria says a nearly week-old cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey is "humiliating" and that those who agreed to it made a "big mistake."

The cease-fire, which excludes the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front as well as the Islamic State group, has largely held, except for intense fighting in the Barada Valley outside Damascus, a major source of water for the capital.

The government says the truce does not apply there because of the presence of al-Qaida-linked fighters.

Fatah al-Sham spokesman Hossam al-Shafei said in an interview published late Wednesday by Al-Jazeera Net that his group does not oppose a political solution, but that insurgents must first unite and achieve battlefield victories.

He says the current truce only protects Syrian President Bashar Assad and allied Iranian-backed militias.