Cease-Fire Goes into Effect in South of Damascus

Three opposition groups agreed to a cease-fire deal for a rebel enclave south of Damascus, the Associated Press reported.

The agreement, which went into effect at noon on Thursday, was brokered by Russia and Egypt in Cairo, but it was not signed by the Syrian government.

The exact area covered by the deal remains unclear, but Islamist rebel groups control a pocket of three villages – Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem – adjacent to territory south of the capital held by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).

The political leader of Jaish al-Islam, a rebel group that is party to the agreement, said the cease-fire is unlike previous deals that involved the evacuation of fighters and their families to northern Syria.

“The residents of this area will stay in their homes and this [deal] will lift the siege and cease the fire,” Mohammed Alloush told the AP.

The three villages have been under total or partial siege since 2013. An estimated 42,500 civilians are still living there.

According to Alloush, the other rebel factions party to the agreement are Jaish al-Ababil and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, which is linked to the Palestinian Hamas group.

Turkey Deploys Troops in Syria

A first convoy of Turkish military vehicles crossed into Syria on Thursday as part of Ankara’s latest campaign aiming to enforce a so-called de-escalation zone in the militant-held province of Idlib.

The size of the deployment was not immediately clear. Citing a commander in the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Reuters said that 30 military vehicles crossed near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing late on Thursday. Al Jazeera said that 12 armored vehicles, carrying about 80 troops, had entered Syria.

The convoy was escorted by the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance (HTS). This is at least the third time this month that Turkish forces have entered Syria under HTS escort.

According to Reuters, the convoy was heading to Sheikh Barakat, a strategic hilltop that overlooks the Kurdish-held area of Afrin and large parts of rebel-held northwestern Syria.

An unidentified FSA official told Reuters that the Turkish convoy is seeking to take positions on the front line with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Turkey had sent a reconnaissance unit to the area on Sunday to scout the region ahead of deployment.

An update released by Reuters on Friday said that Turkey had already started setting up observation posts in northwest Syria, but it did not specify the exact location.

The deployment came days after Ankara announced that it would send troops to Syria to enforce a de-escalation zone agreement reached in the Kazakh capital of Astana last month.

Turkish officials said the operation would be conducted in cooperation with allied Syrian rebel groups.

This is Ankara’s second cross-border incursion into Syria. In August 2016, it launched the Euphrates Shield operation against jihadists and Kurdish militias in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Fifty Killed in ISIS Attack in East Syria

A triple car-bomb attack orchestrated by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) killed at least 50 people in eastern Syria on Thursday, including internally displaced civilians and Kurdish security personnel, Reuters said.

The three bombs were detonated in the Abu Fas area, near the provincial border between Hassakeh and Deir Ezzor. Civilians fleeing fighting in Deir Ezzor and members of the Kurdish security forces were among those killed.

The attack comes against the backdrop of significant pro-government advances in east Syria.

Citing the United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the AP said on Thursday that government forces advanced into the western and northern neighborhoods of Mayadeen and cut off the road linking the town to the area of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.

Recommended Reads

• The National: Turkish Intervention in Idlib Does Not Solve the Issue of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Dominance
• Agence France-Presse: Far From Front Line, Volunteers Prepare to Rebuild Raqqa
• Reuters: In Schools and Hospitals, Turkey Carves North Syria Role
• Agence France-Presse: Civilians Pour Out of Syria’s Raqqa as Bombing Intensifies
• Newsweek: How the U.S. Lost the War in Syria to Russia and Iran