(Zaman Al Wasl)- Thousands of people on Friday came out to the streets of rebel-held areas in Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces to rally against the Syrian regime and to denounce the fragile buffer zone deal.
Demonstrators held up the three-star flag of the Syrian revolution and placards recalling the first days of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
Syrian rebels on Friday thwarted regime’s surprise attack on the northern countryside of Hama province as the regime forces pushed into the stronghold of Jaish al-Izaa near the town of al-Latameh.
The overnight clashes left 23 rebels killed, according to Zaman al-Wasl reporter.
Syrian rebels wounded 9 regime army troops in rocket attack on Joureen military camp on Wednesday, local activists said.
Rebels' news accounts said they retaliated to regime artillery shelling.
The September deal, struck between Russia, Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, staved off a regime offensive to retake Idlib and adjacent opposition-held regions.
The agreement announced in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sept. 17 would establish the zone in a 15-20 km (10-12 mile) wide strip of territory now held by rebels, and calls for joint patrols of the area by Russian and Turkish troops.
Russia has said rebels are trying to wreck the Russian-Turkish initiative and Damascus has said Turkey seems unwilling to implement it. But Turkey says the deal is going to plan.
Opposition areas in the north are held by an array of rebels, the most powerful being Tahrir al-Sham, an amalgamation of Islamist groups dominated by the former Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate until 2016.
Since the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011, more than 470,000 people have been killed, and more than 6 million people have been displaced.
Zaman Al Wasl
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