Key areas stable after implementation of ‘de-escalation zones’ in eight provinces

Some of the areas included in the ‘safe zones’ plan witnessed a drop in violence on Saturday

Fighting subsided in Syria yesterday after a deal signed by government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey to create four “de-escalation zones” began to take effect.

The multiphase plan, signed on Thursday in the Kazakh capital Astana, is one of the more ambitious efforts to end Syria’s six-year conflict.

It provides for a ceasefire, rapid deliveries of humanitarian aid and the return of refugees after “de-escalation zones” are created across stretches of eight Syrian provinces.

‘Third-party’ forces

Those zones would see a halt to hostilities, including air strikes. The plan also proposes the deployment of “third-party” monitoring forces.

It began coming into effect at midnight (2100 GMT Friday), according to Russia, but cosponsors have until June 4 to finalise the zones’ borders.

The four main battlegrounds covered are the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of central Syria, the south, and the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

Some of those areas had already seen a drop in violence by Saturday, and Russia’s defence ministry said Syria was “stable” at the end of the deal’s first day. “We noticed there are fewer aeroplanes, almost none. People are buying and selling more,” said Abu Qais, a 26-year-old trader in Maaret Al Numan in Idlib province.

“Psychologically, residents are relieved,” he told AFP.

Syrian government warplanes could be heard from Eastern Ghouta around midday, according to an AFP correspondent in the rebel-held town of Douma.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces were clashing with rebels in the central province of Hama, dropping barrel bombs and firing artillery at opposition-held villages there.

“Despite these violations, we can still say that hostilities have dropped,” said Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman.

The Britain-based Observatory said a child was killed in government shelling in parts of Homs province that fall within the de-escalation zones, the first civilian death in the zones since the deal began coming into effect.

Another seven rebel fighters were killed in other areas, up from an earlier toll of four.

Several ceasefires have been agreed since Syria’s conflict broke out in 2011, but they have failed to permanently stem the fighting. The new deal was penned by opposition backer Turkey as well as Russia and Iran, which both support Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

It was reached during negotiations to shore up a faltering truce deal brokered in December.

The agreement would initially last six months but could be extended by the guarantors.

It does not specify that the safe zones take effect immediately, but gives the three guarantor states two weeks to form working groups to delineate them and then until June 4 to come up with definitive boundaries.

Access to the areas will be controlled by security zones with checkpoints and observation posts.