Government forces reinforce posts in tandem with truce in NW Syria
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces took advantage of undeclared truce to reinforce its posts in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo in northwestern Syria, a military source within the opposition said on Saturday.
According to a source from the opposition, Turkey notified them that an undeclared truce was put in effect in northwestern Syria at the end of the past week. It seems the truce was agreed upon by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the past week.
The source told North Press that after 48 hours from the start of the truce, the government forces began fortifying and reinforcing their post on the frontlines with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Zawiya Mountain in the south of Idlib and west of Aleppo.
The source added that the areas refortified by the government forces revealed to be lightly fortified in late August, as the HTS managed to penetrate and control several posts before losing them again due to Russian airstrikes.
The government forces brought new military reinforcements from Regiment 25 and the Lebanese Hezbollah to the village of al-Malaja and the cities of Kafr Nabl and Maarat al-Numan in the south of Idlib in tandem with the refortification.
Since late August until past week, areas in northwestern Syria had witnessed the first of its kind military escalation in years between the government forces and HTS, which initiated for the first time and attempted to advance on the ground and controlled several posts of the government forces.
Although the de-escalation zone in northwest Syria is subject to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment despite the entry of the ceasefire into force.
In March 2020, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement in Moscow that stipulated a ceasefire, the establishment of a safe corridor, and the conduct of joint patrols on the M4/Aleppo-Latakia Highway.