Fresh negotiations are now taking place for re-establishing a cease-fire in the city of Zabadani, close to the Lebanese borders, and two besieged Shiite towns in northwestern Syria, a mediator familiar with the negotiation process said Wednesday.
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The truce is the second in a month in those areas between the Syrian army and its Lebanese Hezbollah allies on one side, and insurgents on the other.
The truce came into force on Thursday morning after talks between the two sides, mediators and the UK-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
They said the sides had agreed to facilitate an evacuation of wounded people from the town of Zabadani and from the villages of Kefraya and al-Foua in the province of Idlib, beginning on Friday.
Pro-regime forces, including Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah militia, launched an offensive to seize Zabadani from rebel groups early last month.
Previous Iranian-mediated talks floundered and a cease-fire ended in mid-August after a spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham, one of the rebel groups in Zabadani, said “forced sectarian migration will not be tolerated”.
The rebels in Idlib said they will continue attacking the Shiite towns until government troops halt their attacks on the Saladi-led insurgency in Zabadani.
The ceasefire between the Syrian army troopers and the foreign-backed extremists also restored calm in the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya.
He said Wednesday’s talks were triggered in part by the Ahrar al-Sham threat that they will shower Kafraya and Foa with rockets if the situation in Zabadani was not settled.
The earlier talks included discussion of the withdrawal of rebels from Zabadani, perhaps in exchange for the evacuation of civilians from Fuaa and Kafraya or the delivery of aid.
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Zabadani is important for the Syrian army because it’s the last rebel bastion of Nusra and allied militants beside the Lebanese borders. The area is of crucial importance to President Bashar al-Assad because of its proximity to Damascus and the Lebanese border. The ceasefires are in the western portion of Syria, beyond the main strongholds of Islamic State fighters.
