Assad regime breaches truce, retakes towns in N. Syria

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Since last September, when Turkey and Russia hammered out a ceasefire in northern Syria, the Assad regime has violated the truce by recapturing two towns in opposition-held Idlib.

According to local sources, regime forces and Iran-backed terrorist groups captured the strategically important towns of Tel Othman and Janabriyah after fierce clashes with armed opposition groups.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.

Last September, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Syria’s northern Idlib province into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.