Aid groups worried as deadline looms for Syria's Idlib
Aid agencies yesterday warned of dire humanitarian consequences if a Russia-Turkey deal to avert a regime assault on Syria's last major rebel stronghold was not fully implemented within days.
Regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey agreed last month to set up a buffer zone around the northwestern region of Idlib to separate jihadist and rebels inside from government fighters massing on its edges.
Under the accord, jihadists have until Monday to withdraw from the buffer zone semi-circling the region of some three million people, but have not yet shown any sign of moving.
Yesterday, international aid groups working in Idlib warned that failure to implement the deal could spark renewed violence and trigger mass displacement.
Local partner organisations and "civilians receiving aid have expressed fears that violence could spiral out of control in the next few days if either the deal collapses or fighting escalates in areas not covered by it", they said.
"Even a limited military offensive would displace hundreds of thousands of people," CARE International, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps and Save the Children said in a statement.
Nearly half of the people living in Idlib have fled from their homes in other parts of the war-torn country, according to the United Nations, and many already depend on aid.
"If this deal falls short and military operations start, many hundreds of thousands will struggle to get the help they will so badly need," warned Lorraine Bramwell, IRC's Syria country director.
For the agreement to be implemented, Idlib's dominant force, an alliance led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, and other jihadists must withdraw from the planned buffer zone by Monday.
But the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance has not yet officially responded to the deal, and a Britain-based war monitor said yesterday that no jihadists had withdrawn yet from the buffer zone.
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