Two humanitarian operation were carried out in Syria’s Tartus and Deir ez-Zor governorates by officers of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria on Saturday, the center’s chief Alexey Bakin said on Sunday.
“A total of 6.19 tonnes of food products were distributed among civilians,” Bakin said. “In total, the Russian reconciliation center has carried out 2,212 humanitarian operations since the start of the settlement process in Syria. A total of 3,616.19 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes have been delivered,” he added.
He noted that the Russian reconciliation center continues to register ceasefire violations by militants in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Bakin said that as many as 35 instances of shelling were reported on September 28, with 25 settlements coming under fire.
“Militants from illegal armed groups shelled the settlements of Binyamin, Sabikiyah, Makanis al-Dwairi, and Halasa in the Aleppo governorate; the settlements of Ain al-Qantara, Kermel, Ardash Dag, Ikko, KInsibba, Mamukhiyah, al-Ziara, Safsafa, Nahshebba, Ain Sleimo, Sandran, and Saraf in the Latakia governorate; the settlements of Khan Shaykhoun, Kafer Ain, al-Salikhiyah, Tamana, Hwain al-Qebir, Sukayat, Habit, and Dreiba in the Idlib governorate; the settlement of Kara Jurn in the Idlib governorate,” he said.
Four de-escalation zones were established in Syria under the agreement reached by the three Syrian ceasefire guarantor nations, namely Russia, Iran and Turkey, in May 2017. Three of the zones are now controlled by Damascus while the fourth one, located in the Idlib governorate and partially in the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo governorates, is still outside Damascus’ control, with a larger part of it being seized by Jabhat al-Nusra (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) militants.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country’s liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.
