A Russian envoy said U.S. aircraft are “barred” from flying over the “de-escalation zones” that Russia, Iran and Turkey recently agreed to establish and allocate in Syria, however, U.S. officials dismissed the proposal as it continues operations to target Islamic State.
“The coalition will continue to strike ISIS targets in Syria,” the official told The Wall Street Journal. “The campaign to defeat ISIS will continue at the same relentless pace as it is proceeding now.”
A deal hammered by Russia, Turkey and Iran to allocate “de-escalation zones” in the war-torn regions of Syria started on Saturday.
The plan seems to be the latest international attempt to reduce violence in the country desolated by war. The US is not a member of agreement nor does it want to be affiliated with it. Syria did not sign the agreement either and claimed that “it lacks legitimacy.”
Fox News military analyst General Geff Keane said, “It will go forward similar to other cease-fires. We made the right decision by pushing back and not participating . The guarantors of the safety of the people in these “de-escalation zones” are the Iranians and that is totally and completely unacceptable for us. Iranians are the main groundforce in Syria now and not the UN. What normally happens is Russians reset, consolidatek and gradually they start to take operational advantage on the ground and start bombing again.”
The plan, details of which will still be delided over during next few weeks, went into effect on midnight Friday. There were limited reports of bombing in northern Homs and Hama, two areas expected to be part of the “de-escalation zones,” activists said. There were casualties.
It is not clear how the cease-fire or “de-escalation zones” will be enforced in areas that are still to be determined and will emerge a month from now.
Russia has no answers on how to deal with any violations from other side said Sama Abo Zayd, a spokesman for the Syrian Military factions in Astana. “If this (negotiating) table does not lead to solutions, we will return to the gun,” he said.
