MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. About 1,000 people and 59 vehicles have left militants-controlled areas of the Idlib de-escalation zone via the al-Hader and Habit humanitarian corridors, Major General Yuri Borenkov, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Monday.
"Over the past day, as many as 464 people and 26 cars and agricultural vehicles left the area via the al-Hader checkpoint in the Aleppo governorate. A total of 519 people and 33 vehicles left via the Habit checkpoint in the Hama governorate. No one left the area via the Anu al-Duhur checkpoint in the Idlib governorate," he told journalists.
The three checkpoints for people willing to leaver the Idlb zone started to operate on Monday morning.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.
Idlib ceasefire
The ceasefire in the Idlib de-escalation zone in northern Syria entered into force on January 12. The Syrian government forces however stopped fighting at 14.00 p.m. on January 9.
Syria’s government army on Sunday repelled a militants’ attack on its positions in the Idlib governorate where a ceasefire had been declared, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, Borenkov said.
"On January 12, militants attempted an attack from the Maar Shamsha area on government troops’ positions near the settlement of Jarjanaz. The attack involved up to 100 militants and five pickup cars armed with heavy machineguns. The attack was repelled by the Syrian army with the help of tanks and firearms," he said.
In all, in his words, twenty-seven shelling attacks by illegal armed groups were reported during the day in the Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib and Hama governorates.
Turkey’s ministry of national defense said on January 10 that Ankara and Moscow had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone starting from January 12. Meanwhile, Borenkov said on January 9 that a ceasefire would be imposed in the Idlib de-escalation zone starting from 14:00 Moscow time on the same day.
Idlib is the only large Syrian region that is still controlled by illegal armed groups. A norther de-escalation zone was set up in Idlib in 2017 to give shelter to militants and their families who were reluctant to voluntarily surrender arms in Eastern Ghouta and in Syria’s southern regions. Twelve Turkish observation stations are operating in the Idlib governorate.