Two Syrian opposition fighters were transferred into Lebanon Sunday from the Syrian border town of Zabadani, an activist group said, in an indication that a local ceasefire agreement, brokered by regional powers Iran and Turkey, is finally being implemented. The two fighters, as well as the father of one of them, were transported in a UN vehicle from Zabadani to Lebanon, after an agreement with Syrian troops and Hezbollah to provide safe passage, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The ceasefire deal, which is restricted to two areas in Syria, was reached with backing from Iran, Turkey and the United Nations.
The deal also applies to the two Shiite villages of Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The agreement, to be carried out over a six-month period, includes the withdrawal of rebel fighters holed up in Zabadani near Lebanon, and the evacuation of civilians from Foua and Kefraya under rebel siege. Evacuation of the wounded is one of the terms of the deal.
The British-based Observatory said a larger-scale evacuation was expected Monday, but the two fighters, members of powerful insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham, were in particularly serious condition.
The ceasefire in Idlib province was violated overnight for the first time since hostilities ceased nearly a week ago.
Government forces dropped barrel bombs on a village in the ceasefire zone, killing five people, the Observatory said.
Rebels responded by shelling nearby Foua.
The deal comes as a flurry of diplomacy takes place over Syria’s 4-year-old civil war, as heads of state gather for the UN General Assembly in New York.
US President Barack Obama is to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, with Syria and Ukraine topping the agenda.
