Truce in Syrian flashpoints still holding despite brief breach

Despite a brief breach, the truce in some Syrian towns is still holding and has not failed yet, a Syrian legislator told the pro-government Sham FM on Sunday.

Last Sunday, an initial 48-hour truce had simultaneously gone into force at 12:00 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) in the besieged Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa in northwestern province of Idlib and the rebel-held town of Zabadani.

However, Jihadi groups fired tens of improvised rockets and mortar rounds on Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa in the countryside of Idlib province overnight, marking the first breach of a six-month truce that was a part of a broader agreement reached between Iranian and jihadi representatives.

The rebel rocket fire came in response to what they called the regime forces breach of the ceasefire in other rebel-held areas in Idlib.

Hasan Ragheb, a Syrian lawmaker from Foa, told Sham FM that despite brief breach of the ceasefire, which has not apparently resulted in any casualties, "the truce is still holding and hasn't failed yet," noting that "impending technical issues are being hammered out to ease the evacuation from the two Shiite towns on Monday."

The truce was designed to bring rebels attack on Kafraya and Foa to a halt and in return Syrian government troops and their allied fighters of the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah group would allow the rebels in Zabadani to withdraw to Idlib.

The initial truce was automatically extended to a six-month ceasefire, during which an agreement was said to be completed and implemented to settle the situation in the Shiite towns as well as in Zabdani and other adjacent towns.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, said Thursday that the agreement was reached under an Iranian-Turkish sponsorship and a United Nations supervision between Hezbollah, which is advancing in Zabadani, and the rebels of Ahrar al-Sham Movement and the Jaish al-Fateh group that are threatening 40,000 Shiite population in Kafraya and Foa.

According to the initial information, the rebels agreed on allowing women and children to leave the two Shiite towns and in return the Syrian army and Hezbollah will allow the militants in Zabadani to leave that town along with their families to Idlib.

The Observatory, which has wide contacts in Syria, said it will later publish other agreed-upon points.

Pro-government press recently revealed details about the ongoing negotiations, saying the agreement includes 25 points and 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 total withdrawal of rebels and their families from Zabadani. 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 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 rebels, will be tasked with overseeing implementation of the agreement.

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