Syrian opposition adheres to truce amid regime breaches

ANKARA

Opposition groups have reportedly complied with Syria’s three-week-old ceasefire despite numerous provocations by the Assad regime and its allies.

On Dec. 30, a ceasefire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia went into effect throughout war-torn Syria.

While Turkey guaranteed that Syrian opposition groups would comply with the terms of the deal, Russia did the same for the Assad regime.

The Assad regime and allied foreign terrorist groups, however, reportedly violated the truce from the outset.

Ceasefire violations have been reported in the Wadi Barada region west of Damascus, which has remained the target of regime barrel-bomb attacks and artillery fire by Hezbollah.

Ceasefire breaches by the regime and its allies have also been reported in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib, Rif Dimashq and Daraa.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in Syria, regime forces and Iranian-backed militia groups have killed 72 civilians since the ceasefire went into effect, including 21 in Idlib; 19 in the Eastern Ghouta and Wadi Barada regions of Rif Dimashq; 12 in Aleppo; eight in Daraa; and six each in Hama and Homs.

Riyad Hijab, head of Syria’s opposition High Negotiations Committee, said last week that the regime and its allies had violated the truce some 400 times -- killing at least 271 people -- since it came into effect three weeks ago.

According to a Jan. 15 report by the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, the regime and its allies violated the truce a total of 311 times in the first two weeks of the ceasefire.

Syrian opposition groups, meanwhile, have invoked their right to self-defense amid intensifying attacks by the regime.

While the regime has recently made territorial gains in Eastern Ghouta and Wadi Barada, Syrian opposition groups have not carried out any major offensives since the truce first went into effect.

On Jan. 23, Syrian government and opposition representatives are expected to enter political negotiations in Kazakh capital Astana aimed at resolving the six-year-old conflict.