Roundup: Syria flashpoints truce to hold for 6 months, including more areas

The fresh ceasefire that has gone into effect in two Shiite towns in northwestern Syria and a border town near capital Damascus is planned to hold for six months, a source familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

An initial 48-hour truce has simultaneously gone into force at 12:00 am local time (0900 GMT) on Sunday in the besieged Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa in northwestern province of Idlib and the rebel-held town of Zabadani in west of Damascus, near Lebanese borders.

The initial truce will be followed automatically with a six-month ceasefire, during which a 25-point agreement will be completed and implemented to settle the situation in the Shiite towns.

According to local reports, the 25-point agreement, which has been concluded between an Iranian delegation, representing Syrian government, and the Jaish al-Fateh and Ahrar al-Sham rebels, will include halting battles in other areas, such as towns adjacent to Zabadani, namely Madaya, Buqain, Surghaya and the surrounding military posts.

The agreement also includes bringing an end to confrontations and attacks in towns of Binnish, Taftanaz, Taum, Maret Misrin, and cities of Idlib, Ram Hamdan, Zardna, and Shallakh in province of Idlib.

The agreement, which will be gradually implemented during the six-month truce, will allow for total withdrawal of rebels and their families from Zabadani. The rebels in other areas near Zabadani will be allowed to evacuate civilians with medical conditions, but not the combatants.

The only destination for the rebels and their families from Zabadani is Idlib, much of which fell to Jaish al-Fateh in recent months. In return, the wounded people, women, children and men above age 50 will be allowed to leave Kafraya and Foa, two of the very few government positions in Idlib.

Under the agreement, Syrian authorities will release 500 detainees, more specifically 325 women, 25 juveniles, and 150 men, who were detained before July 1, 2015.

The agreement will be overseen by the United Nations, a local press said, adding that a workgroup, formed from representatives from Iran, UN and the rebels, will be tasked with overseeing implementation of the agreement.

The negotiations, which led to the agreement, were taking place in Turkey by an Iranian delegation representing the Syrian government and the Jaish al-Fateh, which include the al-Qaida-linked groups like the Nusra Front. The talks have been ongoing for months.

The rebels wanted Syrian authorities to halt a broad offensive on rebel-held Zabadani and Madaya towns, while the Iranians and Syrian governments wanted jihadi groups in northwestern province of Idlib to halt their attacks on Shiite towns, which have been subject to repetitive attacks and suffocating siege.

Zabadani is important for Syrian army because it's the last rebel bastion of Nusra and allied militants beside Lebanese borders.

The four-year Syrian conflict has taken a sectarian turn with increasing Sunni jihadists joining the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad's government, who belongs to the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah joined battles against the insurgency in Syria to keep radical rebels away from Lebanese border and protect Shiite community in Syria, not to mention its main ally, the Syrian administration. Endit