Assad regime attacks Idlib in violation of Sochi deal

By Burak Karacaoglu and Eşref Musa

IDLIB, Syria

Syrian regime forces and allied militias continued their attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone on Monday despite a ceasefire agreement, according to an opposition spokesman.

"The Assad regime forces continue to launch airstrikes on Idlib and Hama,” Naji Mustafa, a spokesman for the opposition National Liberation Front, told Anadolu Agency.

He said regime forces attacked an opposition checkpoint in Masasis area in Hama late Sunday.

“Three opposition soldiers were killed and four others wounded in the attack,” he said.

“The Assad regime is constantly violating the Sochi agreement," he said.

According to the spokesman, the Assad regime also continued to deploy military forces near Idlib.

“There are attacks on numerous places as Um Halahil, Cercenaz, Khan Shaykhun in Idlib’s countryside as well as Aleppo’s Rashideen district, Al-Ghab Plain in Hama and the Turkmen Mountain in Latakia,” he said.

After a Sept. 17 meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited -- in Syria’s Idlib province.

According to the terms of the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing a resumption of fighting.

On Oct. 10, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that the Syrian opposition and other anti-regime groups had completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Idlib’s demilitarized zone.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this story from Ankara.