Relative calm prevailed Saturday in wide parts of Syria despite sporadic violations and clashes in the country’s center after a deal by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up “de-escalation zones” in mostly opposition-held areas went into effect, opposition activists and government media outlets said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties after the plan — the latest attempt to bring calm to the war-ravaged country — kicked in at midnight Friday.
The establishment of safe zones is the latest international attempt to reduce violence amid a six-year civil war that has left more than 400,000 dead, and is the first to envisage armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria. The United States is not party to the agreement, and the Syrian rivals have not signed on to the deal. The armed opposition, instead, was highly critical of the proposal, saying it lacks legitimacy.
Plan not final for weeks
Details of the plan must be worked out over the next several weeks. There were limited reports of bombing in northern Homs and Hama, and the southern province of Daraa, areas expected to be part of the “de-escalation zones,” activists said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
It is not clear how the cease-fire or “de-escalation zones” will be enforced in areas still to be determined in maps to emerge a month from now.
Russian officials said it will be at least another month until the details are worked out and the safe areas established.
Syria’s government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting “terrorism” wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.
The armed opposition delegation to the talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana said in a statement released early Saturday that the truce should include all of Syria. It said some maps of the “de-escalation zones” that were released are not accurate and will not be accepted because the armed opposition did not negotiate them.
Situation improved
Still, opposition activists in southern, central and northern Syria told The Associated Press on Saturday the situation is by far much better than previous days, with no airstrikes reported.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has activists around the country, said the government’s helicopter gunships dropped three barrel bombs on the rebel-held Latamneh area in central Syria where fighting was reported between rebels and troops. It added that government forces shelled rebel-held neighborhoods of the capital Damascus.
“Despite some violations the situation is much calmer than before,” said opposition activist Mohammed al-Homsi, speaking via Skype from northern Syria.
Ahmad al-Masalmeh, who is based in the southern province of Daraa that borders Jordan, said there were six breaches in the province when government forces shelled opposition-held areas.
Al-Homsi, al-Masalmeh and opposition activist Osama Abu Zeid said government warplanes have not carried out any airstrikes on rebel-held areas since Wednesday, a day before the deal to set up the zones was signed in Kazakhstan.
US not part of agreement
Syrian, Russian, Turkish and U.S.-led coalition aircraft sometimes operate in the same areas in Syria. It is not yet clear how the new plan would affect flight paths of coalition warplanes battling Islamic State group militants and other radical groups — and whether the American air force would abide by a diminished air space.
The Pentagon said the de-escalation agreement would not affect the U.S.-led air campaign against IS.
Russia and Iran, two of the plan’s three sponsors, are key allies of President Bashar Assad’s government and both are viewed as foreign occupation forces by his opponents. Rebels fighting to topple Assad are enraged by Iran’s role in the deal and blame the Shiite power for fueling the sectarian nature of Syria’s conflict, now in its seventh year.
Turkey, the third sponsor, is a major backer of opposition factions and has also sent troops into northern Syria, drawing the ire of Assad and his government.
Yet troops from the three countries are now expected to secure four safe zones. An official with Russia’s military general staff said other countries may eventually have a role in enforcing the de-escalation areas.
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