The recent ceasefire agreement that was accepted by both the Syrian Armed Forces/Hezbollah and Jaysh Al-Fateh in the city of Al-Zabadani and the predominately Shi’i towns of Al-Fou’aa and Kafraya has not even been implemented for 72 hours before both sides violated the terms set forth by Iran and Turkey – the facilitators of this ceasefire agreement.
On Saturday, social media activists from the conglomerate of Al-Qaeda factions “Jaysh Al-Fateh” reported that the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) launched a number of airstrikes above the cities of Taftanaz and Binnish inside the Idlib Governorate; this was allegedly followed by mortar shells fired by the National Defense Forces (NDF) in Al-Fou’aa.
If true, the Syrian Air Force violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which clearly addresses the implementation of a “no-fly-zone” above the cities of Idlib, Taftanaz, Binnish, and Ma’arat Misreen.
Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, a military source from Hama reported that Jaysh Al-Fateh militants fired over 30 mortar shells and rockets into the towns of Al-Fou’aa and Kafraya, resulting in 17 civilians needing urgent hospital care.
Despite this aggression, Jaysh Al-Fateh activists maintain that the 6 month long ceasefire agreement was not violated; however, per the terms set forth by Turkey and Iran, this was a clear violation of the guidelines they accepted last week.
The first phase of this ceasefire agreement has been completed by the Syrian Government after they transported the wounded and captured Islamist rebel fighters of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” to the provincial capital of Idlib City.
