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‘Fiercest’ shellfire yet around Syria truce zone: monitor
BEIRUT, Oct 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rebels and jihadists traded fire with
government forces in northern Syria overnight, their “fiercest” exchanges
since a buffer zone deal was announced for the area last month, a monitor
said Thursday.
A 15- to 20-kilometre (nine to 12-mile) wide “de-militarised zone” was
announced by rebel backer Turkey and government ally Moscow on September 17
to separate government troops from rebel fighters in their last major bastion
in Idlib province and adjacent areas.
Shelling has continued intermittently, however, and escalated dramatically
late Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“It was the fiercest bombing yet since September 17,” said Rami Abdel
Rahman, who heads the Britain-based monitoring group.
“Syrian government rocket and artillery fire killed one girl in Kafr
Hamra,” an Aleppo province town inside the declared buffer zone.
Rebel shelling from inside the zone killed three civilians in government-
held territory earlier this week.
Late on Wednesday, rocket fire by both jihadists and Turkish-backed rebels
hit second city Aleppo, wounding 10 people, Abdel Rahman said.
State news agency SANA gave the same casualty toll and said the army
responded against the sources of the fire north and northwest of the city.
The National Liberation Front, the Turkish-backed rebel alliance which is
the main armed group in that area, said it was responding to government
violations of the truce deal with “light and medium weapons.”
Under the deal agreed by Russia and Turkey, the rebels were supposed to
have removed all heavy weapons from the buffer zone by October 10.
“Radical” fighters — taken to mean Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the
jihadist alliance which is the dominant faction in Idlib, and other
hardliners — were supposed to leave the zone by October 15.
But 10 days on there is still no sign of any pullout or of the planned
monitoring patrols by the deal’s co-sponsors, the Observatory said.
Syrian pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said the jihadists’ failure to
withdraw “provides the justification for the Syrian army and Russian air
force to start a military operation to oust (HTS) from the area.”
But both Russia and Turkey have said the truce deal remains on course
despite the missed deadline, and their leaders are to be joined by their
French and German counterparts for a four-way summit on Syria in Istanbul on
Saturday.
BSS/AFP/RY/1608 hrs