AFP :
Fighting subsided in Syria on Saturday after a deal signed by government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey to create four “de-escalation zones” began to take effect.
The multi-phase plan, signed on Thursday in the Kazakh capital Astana, is one of the more ambitious efforts to bring an end to Syria’s six-year conflict. It provides for a ceasefire, rapid deliveries of humanitarian aid and the return of refugees after the creation of “de-escalation zones” across stretches of eight Syrian provinces.
Those zones would see a halt to hostilities, including air strikes, and proposes the deployment of “third-party” monitoring forces. It began coming into effect at midnight (2100 GMT Friday), according to Russia, but cosponsors have until June 4 to finalise the zones’ borders.
The four main battlegrounds covered are the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of Homs province in the centre, the south, and the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
Some of those areas had already seen a drop in violence by Saturday, AFP’s correspondents and a monitoring group said. The skies were quiet over Idlib province, AFP’s correspondent there said Saturday afternoon, but residents were anxious that the evening would bring renewed bombardment.
Syrian government warplanes could be seen briefly circling over Eastern Ghouta around midday on Saturday, according to an AFP correspondent in the rebel-held town of Douma.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were sporadic skirmishes and shelling in parts of Syria, with government bombardment of rebel positions in central Hama province.
Two air strikes also hit the opposition-held district of Qabun in the capital Damascus but the Observatory had no immediate information on casualties. Overall, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, that “violence was sharply reduced in the areas covered by the deal.”
Several ceasefire deals have been agreed since Syria’s conflict broke out in March 2011 but they have failed to permanently stem the fighting. The new deal was penned by Turkey, which backs the opposition, as well as Russia and Iran, who are supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
AFP / Sameer Al-Doumy Syrian children walk past a damaged car in the rebel-held town of Douma on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on May 6, 2017
It was reached in Astana during another round of negotiations to shore up a faltering truce deal brokered in December.
Fighting subsided in Syria on Saturday after a deal signed by government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey to create four “de-escalation zones” began to take effect.
The multi-phase plan, signed on Thursday in the Kazakh capital Astana, is one of the more ambitious efforts to bring an end to Syria’s six-year conflict. It provides for a ceasefire, rapid deliveries of humanitarian aid and the return of refugees after the creation of “de-escalation zones” across stretches of eight Syrian provinces.
Those zones would see a halt to hostilities, including air strikes, and proposes the deployment of “third-party” monitoring forces. It began coming into effect at midnight (2100 GMT Friday), according to Russia, but cosponsors have until June 4 to finalise the zones’ borders.
The four main battlegrounds covered are the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of Homs province in the centre, the south, and the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
Some of those areas had already seen a drop in violence by Saturday, AFP’s correspondents and a monitoring group said. The skies were quiet over Idlib province, AFP’s correspondent there said Saturday afternoon, but residents were anxious that the evening would bring renewed bombardment.
Syrian government warplanes could be seen briefly circling over Eastern Ghouta around midday on Saturday, according to an AFP correspondent in the rebel-held town of Douma.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were sporadic skirmishes and shelling in parts of Syria, with government bombardment of rebel positions in central Hama province.
Two air strikes also hit the opposition-held district of Qabun in the capital Damascus but the Observatory had no immediate information on casualties. Overall, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, that “violence was sharply reduced in the areas covered by the deal.”
Several ceasefire deals have been agreed since Syria’s conflict broke out in March 2011 but they have failed to permanently stem the fighting. The new deal was penned by Turkey, which backs the opposition, as well as Russia and Iran, who are supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
AFP / Sameer Al-Doumy Syrian children walk past a damaged car in the rebel-held town of Douma on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on May 6, 2017
It was reached in Astana during another round of negotiations to shore up a faltering truce deal brokered in December.
