Syrian Army Ready For Operation In Idlib If Nusra Fails To Implement DMZ Deal - Damascus

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Monday that Damascus was ready to interfere in the situation in Idlib if Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) fails to implement the Russian-Turkish agreement on a demilitarized zone (DMZ).

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Monday that Damascus was ready to interfere in the situation in Idlib if Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) fails to implement the Russian-Turkish agreement on a demilitarized zone (DMZ).

On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to set up a 9-12 mile deep demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line of the armed opposition and the government forces by October 15. The Turkish Defense Ministry has confirmed that heavy weapons had been withdrawn from the designated area in accordance with the memorandum. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that more than 1,000 militants had left the area and around 100 heavy weapons had been pulled out.

"We can't be silent about the existing situation in Idlib if Jabhat al-Nusra refuses to implement the agreement," Moallem said at a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim Jafari.

The minister added that Damascus would wait for information from Russia's patrol forces on the implementation of the demilitarized zone deal, but "the [Syrian] army in the Idlib region is on alert."

The province of Idlib in northwest Syria is the last remaining stronghold of terrorist groups operating in the country, including Jabhat al-Nusra, which has joined forces with four other jihadi groups in Idlib to form a terrorist alliance called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, banned in Russia), widely regarded as the dominant force on the ground in the province.