Baghdad, August 2: The Syrian government has on Thursday agreed to a ceasefire deal in Idlib region on condition that a Russian-Turkish buffer zone pact is adhered, as per the reports of Syrian state-run SANA news agency.
The announcement, followed by weeks of continuous devastating bombardment in the Idlib region which holds around three million people, came as dialogues relaunched between the Syrian government allies – Iran and Russia – and revel-backer Turkey in Kazakhstan.
A Syrian military source was cited by SANA news as announcing Syrian government’s “approval for a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Idlib starting from tonight” based on a condition that rebels would withdraw its forces and arms from the buffer zone in line with a September pact inked in Russia’s resort of Sochi.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, the Sochi deal offers a buffer zone between 15-20 square km area that is assumed to separate the rebels and the Syrian army in Idlib region, and the situation will be monitored all time by Turkish and Russian troops.
Key parts of the Idlib province – Latakia, Aleppo, and Hama – are controlled by Syrian former al-Qaeda-led Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, a terrorist organization.
The aim of the Russian-Turkish deal is to protect the region from the massive authorized offensive, but has been flatters and the Syrian armies, besides Russia, have bombarded the region since late April.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed Turkey for dragging its feet to implement the deal. Moscow’s ambassador to Syria said Russia has welcomed the decision.
Interfax news agency has quoted Alexander Lavrentyev as saying, “Of course, we welcome the Syrian government’s decision to introduce a truce.”