Radicals Retreat From Syria's Idlib Buffer Zone Deeper Into Province, Keep Weapons- Source

Radical groups that withdrew from the demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib ahead of this Monday's deadline did not surrender their weapons and moved deeper into the province, a source from the Syrian opposition familiar with the situation told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Radical groups that withdrew from the demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib ahead of this Monday's deadline did not surrender their weapons and moved deeper into the province, a source from the Syrian opposition familiar with the situation told Sputnik.

"Turkey drove various groups out of the demilitarized zone, but they kept their weapons. The demilitarized zone is already 15-20 km [9-12 miles] wide and free of heavy weapons, but radical groups moved deeper into the Idlib province and retained their weapons, though they were supposed to give it up. Why they kept it arouses questions," the source said.

The source added that the groups who remained inside the zone said that militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) mostly left the area.

"But it is unclear if this is something staged or real," the source noted.

Local media reported last week that militants from two terrorist organizations, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, did not want to withdraw from the buffer zone as Turkey had not given them security guarantees.

Sputnik learned that the borders of the zone are fully established. It is V-shaped, with the widest part in the south. The borders reach the city of Jisr al-Shughur and the Latakia province on the west, the area of the Darat Izza town on the east and go below the village of Ltamenah in the south.

Turkey runs checkpoints inside the zone, while Russia and Iran have established theirs along its perimeter. Each guarantor state controls a dozen checkpoints. Monitoring will be conducted exclusively by Russia and Turkey, with military police of each country taking turns to go inside the zone.

On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line of the armed opposition and the government forces by October 15. The withdrawal of heavy weaponry is part of the deal.