Temporary Ceasefire begins in 4 Syrian towns, Zabadani, Madaya, Kefraya, Foua
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – A new temporary truce has begun between pro-government and al-Qaeda offshoot opposition forces in four Syrian towns, a group that monitors the Syrian conflict has reported.
Sunday’s ceasefire began in the rebel-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya outside the capital, Damascus, and the Shia villages of Fouaa and Kefraya in the north-western province of Idlib near the Turkish border, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The decision was to be implemented starting from 12:00 pm on Sunday.
The halt of operation came after dozens of terrorist gunmen killed, including a senior al-Qaeda leader, when the Syrian Popular Committees fought off an attack by militants in the vicinity of Foua and Kefraya towns, in addition to cracking down on gunmen in some parts of Zabadani city.
Last month, two truces in the four towns did not hold. It is not clear how long the new truce will last or who brokered it.
The Britain-based observatory said that hours before the start of the truce, a coalition of rebels led by the al-Nusra Front seized parts of Fouaa after fierce fighting against pro-government militias backed by the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement.
At least 74 rebels have been killed in the area since rebel forces on Wednesday launched a large-scale attack on Fouaa and Kefraya, the last remaining regime strongholds in Idlib.
Most of the province has fallen in recent months to the terrorists.
Zabadani and Madaya are among the rebels’ last strongholds near Syria’s border with Lebanon.
Syrian government troops and allied Hezbollah fighters have been besieging the two mountain towns since July.
The possibility that hardline Wahhabi rebels, who view Shiites as heretics, would be able to overrun Fouaa and Kefraya appears to have persuaded the Syrian government and Hezbollah to slow down their bid to recapture al-Zabadani and Madaya.
Meanwhile, the so-called Observatory reported that 75 rebel militants trained by US, British and Turkish forces had entered Syria on Friday night and Saturday morning.
The initial US programme, signed off by Congress a year ago, set aside $500 million and aimed to train some 5,000 rebel militants.
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