Warring sides agree on evacuation of wounded from Syrian town, villages

Earlier, Mohammed Abu Qassem, secretary general of Syria’s Tadamun (Solidarity) Party and a mediator of the truce, confirmed the ceasefire was due to begin at 6:00 AM local time.

A two-day ceasefire between warring sides in Syria came into force on Thursday in a rebel-held town near the border with Lebanon, and two Shi’ite villages in the northwest, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The development comes as Syrian army soldiers backed by fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement had already made some advances in Zabadani, clearing the militants from key areas in the town.

The previous Iranian-mediated talks were focused on securing safe passage for rebels and civilians out of Zabadani in exchange for allowing humanitarian aid to the two besieged villages with a majority pro-government population sympathetic to Hezbollah.

The Syrian army backed by the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah has been on a shattering offensive against Sunni-led militants groups, mainly the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the city of Zabadani.

Fouaa and Kafraya are the remaining regime strongholds in Idlib, whose main cities have fallen to Islamist rebels in recent months.

A fighter on the side of government forces in Zabadani said clashes had intensified prior to the latest planned ceasefire.

Abu Qassem said that the negotiations have not stopped since the first cease-fire was halted.

He added the current talks are about the withdrawal of the remaining rebels from Zabadani, as the Syrian army refused the presence of any armed men inside the city.

He added that the Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah have become in control of about 85 percent of Zabadani.

The town is the last rebel-held bastion in the area along the border with Lebanon and has been subjected to massive aerial bombardment since the operation began. The area is of crucial importance to President Bashar al-Assad because of its proximity to Damascus and the Lebanese border.