Ceasefire on Idlib: An agreement born dead

The ceasefire regime reached between the Turkish and Russian presidents on Thursday night did not last longer than a day with the Washington- and Ankara-backed terrorists violating it for six times on Friday.

As the military-political analysts of the region had predicted, the ceasefire agreement between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Syria’s war-torn provinces of Idlib and Aleppo did not last for even one day as terrorists continued escalating the regional tensions by their inhumane acts, reported IRNA.

Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev, the chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria, said Sunday that the terrorists had broken the ceasefire 19 times in the Idlib de-escalation zone by opening fire on the Syrian positions and residential areas, five of which were conducted within the past 24 hours.

According to the regional experts, from the very first moment, after the agreement was signed between Putin and Erdogan, it was crystal clear that the terrorists would not adhere to such a deal, and that this was only an opportunity for them to consolidate their positions and acquire ammunition and weapons.

This is while the Turkish troops, who have been sticking to their illegal presence in northwestern Syria, have secured their position in the past days by transferring new forces and equipment to Idlib province; according to reports, since the agreement was signed, more Turkish troops have entered Syria with more than 3750 tanks and military vehicles, and the number of Turkish troops in Syria has increased to more than 8,700.

During the past two months and with the start of the liberation operations in Idlib and west of Aleppo, the liberation of the strategic town of Saraqib and 250 settlements and villages by the Syrian army and the Islamic Resistance Front along, as well as the liberation of al-Zawiya and the important M4 and M5 highways, have inflicted heavy blows to the terrorists and their supporters; over 1,500 terrorists have been killed in the said period and over 6,000 others have been injured. The number of the Turkish troops killed in such battles has reached 115 and their injuries have surpassed 200. The Syrian Army has also liberated 12 so-called Turkish patrol post.

Despite the downing of eight Turkish drones in Idlib province so far, the American and Turkish drones are still flying over the region in significant numbers targeting the positions of the Syrian Army and the Islamic Resistance Front.

Apart from sending fresh military equipment and troops to Idlib in recent days and despite the loss of 12 military positions in the Syrian province, Turkey has attempted to establish some 30 illegal military headquarters in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo to support Takfiri terrorists.

According to analysts and based on the available evidence, the US- and Turkey-backed terrorists are seeking to buy time to equip themselves and carry out new attacks on Syrian military positions. The repeated violations of the ceasefire in northwestern Syria have been conducted in the same line.

The Syrian Army and the Islamic Resistance Front, which have repeatedly been hit by terrorists during announced ceasefires, need to keep their readiness in order to eradicate the terrorists at their last base, the Idlib province, and put and end to the ten-year terrorism in their country.