Nearly 110,000 Syrians return to Idlib since cease-fire

IDLIB, Syria

Nearly 110,000 displaced Syrians have returned to their homes in Idlib province, northwestern Syria, since Turkey and Russia agreed on a cease-fire in the region on March 5.

Around one million Syrians were displaced from Idlib province when the Syrian regime and its allies launched an offensive in November 2019.

Most of the displaced refugees sought shelter at refugee camps close to the border with Turkey while some others went to areas under the Syrian opposition control in northern Syria.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Muhammad Hallaj, the director of Syria's Response Coordination Group, said that many of the displaced Syrians returned to their homes immediately after the halt in the attacks by regime forces in the area.

He added that since the cease-fire took place, 109,714 Syrians have returned to their homes.

Hallaj also said that a large number of the displaced Syrians still prefer to stay at the camps near the Syria-Turkey border, due to the regime forces' control over the villages.

On March 5, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on a new cease-fire in Idlib which took effect one day later.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara