The 48-hour ceasefire between the Syrian regime and opposition forces first went into effect on Wednesday morning in three towns – two predominantly Shia towns in the Idlib province and one predominantly Sunni town in the Damascus province.
Iran, representing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had sought to extend the truce by an additional several days.
However, according to Abu al-Yazid Taftanaz, a spokesman for the Ahrar ash-Sham Islamic Movement (a coalition of Islamic-leaning groups opposed to the Assad regime), talks broke down because Iranian representatives insisted that Sunni residents of Zabadani – a town located northwest of Damascus on the border with Lebanon – should be transferred to another location.
“It [the forced transfer of Sunni residents from Zabadani] is not acceptable,” Taftanaz told Anadolu Agency. “This would only result in more conflict.”
The initial 48-hour truce had been intended to be a first step towards larger peace negotiations and ending the fighting in the three towns in which it was applied....
www.aa.com.tr
15/8/15
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Syrian government recaptures villages on strategic plain: monitor...
ReplyDeleteSyrian government forces recaptured four northwestern villages on Tuesday in a counter-attack on insurgents threatening strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said.
Government planes launched dozens of air strikes overnight into the morning on parts of the Sahl al-Ghab plain seized by rebels in an advance this month, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Clashes between insurgents and state forces backed by allied militias raged on Tuesday, the monitor and officials added.
"The army is advancing in the area," a Syrian military source told Reuters on Tuesday..............reuters.com
18/8/15