The Assad regime forces once again violated the international and local agreements reached in Syria as activists confirmed the occurrence of artillery shelling by regime forces against the areas covered by the buffer zone which was established as part of the Idlib agreement. Assad regime also detained civilians in the provinces of Dara’a and Rural Damascus in violation of the enforced settlement agreements that took place in these provinces under Russian guarantees.
The Assad regime forces stationed in southeastern Idlib targeted several villages in the province with heavy artillery despite being located inside the demilitarized zone.
Local activists said that the artillery shelling, which took place at dawn on Friday, targeted the villages of Umm al-Khalakhil, Al-Farjah and the outskirts of the village of Al-Zarzur. On Thursday, regime forces shelled the southern outskirts of the towns of Latamina and Jisr Beit al-Ras with heavy machine guns. Similar shelling also hit the Scientific Research Area, the town of Mansoura as well as Kafar Hamra, and Lairamoun in rural Aleppo.
These violations came five days after the Free Syrian Army groups announced they completed the implementation of the terms of the Idlib agreement and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the buffer zone. The Syrian Coalition said that these violations are an attempt by the Assad regime to sabotage the agreement which foiled its plans to recapture the region.
In southern Syria, meanwhile, activists said that the Assad regime forces detained a student from the town of Daiel in rural Daraa while he was on his way to Latakia to apply for university despite having “resettled his status” with the regime more than two months before. Assad regime forces also detained seven young men in the town of Saqba in eastern Ghouta without giving any reasons.
The Syrian Coalition pointed out that the Assad regime is still wriggling out of all international commitments with the aim of undermining the political process and preventing the achievement of a comprehensive political transition in the country. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
