Syria Conflict: Ceasefire Comes Into Effect In Three Towns

The two Shia villages of Al-Foua and Kefraya, meanwhile, have been targeted in a parallel offensive by an insurgent alliance that includes both the hardline Ahrar Al-Sham and the local Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front.

He reported that civilians were trapped both in Zabadani and in the Shia Muslim villages of al Foua and Kefraya.

The rebel group Ahrar al-Sham had led the talks on the insurgents’ side.

Three authorities on the brink of Damascus described the truce because of peacekeeping by Turkey, which generally supports rebels wrestling against President Bashar al-Assad, and Iran, whom aid has long been important to his success.

The Observatory said that during the truce, Iranian and Hezbollah mediators will negotiate with fighters in Zabadani on securing buses to take militants from the town in return for allowing humanitarian and food assistance to enter Foua and Kfarya. A source close to the negotiations said talks would continue on other subjects.

The ceasefire began at 6 a.m. Wednesday. “So far there is calm”, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory.

It said at that time that the talks were halted due to the Iranian delegation’s “determination to empty Zabadani of civilians and fighters and displace them to another areas”.

Some fighters were refusing to leave Zabadani, it added.

Hezbollah and the Syrian army are expected to gain full control over the Syrian border town of Zabadani “in the coming hours”, a security source told The Daily Star Tuesday night.

The Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group is fighting the rebel advances, alongside other Shiite militias and the Syrian army.

Last month, President Assad acknowledged the Syrian army was facing a shortage of troops and had withdrawn from some areas.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were reports of dead and injured in the heavy fire on Fuaa and Kafraya that started on Sunday night, but it had no confirmed toll. “It has strengthened its positions in this second defensive line”, the source said.