Terrorists Surprised at Sochi Agreement's Paragraphs on Syria's Idlib

TEHRAN (defapress)- Militant-affiliated sources disclosed on Monday that Turkey-backed terrorist groups have been deeply surprised to see the contents of the Sochi Agreement on Demilitarized Zone in Idlib.

News ID: 72793

Date: 01 October 2018 - 15:42

The sources said that Turkish Intelligence Service has informed a number of commanders of Ankara-backed militant groups that they - and not their rival militant groups - will be allowed to stay in occupied regions, battlefields and in some bases along the contact line with the Syrian Army provided that they transfer their heavy weapons to 15 km away from the contact line in the depth of Idlib province.

They further said that, based on the Sochi Agreement, the agreement will cover the entire occupied territories, adding that the Syrian Army will remain in its positions and will not withdraw forces and equipment from current positions.

The sources said that other paragraphs of the Sochi Agreement read that terrorist groups, including Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) and Horas al-Deen and other groups that are enlisted as terrorist should retreat from the region.

Other paragraphs of the agreement say that Russian and Turkish forces will carry out joint patrol in the demilitarized zone and will check terrorists' bases to discover any possible weapons.

London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that Tahrir al-Sham formed Jeish (army) Abu Bakr al-Sediq through a merger of the so-called armies (jioush) of Idlib, al-Badiyeh and Hama; Jeish Omar Bin Khatab from the armies (jioush) of Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta and al-Sharqiyeh and Jeish Othman from the armies (jioush) of al-Sham, al-Hodoud and al-Sahel.

Tahrir al-Sham has formed the new armies as it planned to declare its position on the demilitarized zone mentioned in the Sochi Agreement, SOHR said, adding that most of the terrorist groups, including Jeish al-Izzah, opposed the Sochi Agreement.

Message end/