Militants have not withdrawn weapons from north Syria: observatory

A pro-opposition monitoring group says Turkey-backed militants have not withdrawn their heavy weapons from the buffer zone in northern Syria as they claim and are instead hiding their arms in the north of Latakia.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has not detected any signs of militant groups moving out from the demilitarized region according to a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey. It said that 70% of the area is still under the control of the militants.

Under a deal reached between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi on September 17, all militants in the demilitarized zone, which surrounds Idlib and also parts of the adjacent provinces of Aleppo and Hama, must pull out their heavy arms by Wednesday, and Takfiri groups must withdraw by October 15.

The agreement has so far held off a government offensive on Idlib, the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria.

The UK-based group said the militants were digging tunnels to hide their heavy weapons inside the zone in the northern countryside of Latakia.

According to the report, Ahrar al-Sham, Faylaq al-Sham and the Coastal Regiments 1 and 2, formed with Turkish backing in May, have not retreated from the Latakia countryside and have only hid their arms in tunnels.

Naci Mustafa, a spokesman for the so-called National Front for the Liberation of Syria which is backed by Turkey, claimed on Saturday that the militants had begun removing heavy weapons from the frontlines in a bid for a 15- to 20-kilometer demilitarized zone to be set up.

The observatory said the militants had not withdrawn from the buffer zone and were even reinforcing their positions in the region, especially in northern Latakia.

SS