06 Mar 2020; MEMO: Syrian regime forces violated the ceasefire only half an hour after it came into effect, Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera, local sources and Syrian journalists reported.
“Assad forces continue bombardments in the south of Idlib and west of Aleppo after the cease-fire deal,” Al Jazeera reported in a tweet.
Assad Hanna, a Syrian journalist and human rights defender working for the civil defence group the White Helmets, also said in a tweet that the regime forces violated the ceasefire just minutes after it came into effect at 00.01 today.
According to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 15 regime soldiers and opposition fighters were killed in clashes on the frontlines of Jabal Al-Zawiya since the ceasefire came into effect.
Pro-regime fighters, however, claimed opposition forces had attacked in violation of the terms of the deal.
Yesterday Turkey and Russia reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone.
During the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted the massive losses that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime has suffered in the Idlib battles.
The killing of more than 34 Turkish soldiers in regime attacks last week led Turkey to launch a campaign of airstrikes in Syria. Ankara said it has killed more than 2,000 Syrian regime troops as in its latest campaign.
