Hizbullah Reaches Deal with Syria Rebels on Zabadani, Shiite Towns

Hizbullah and Syrian rebels have reached an agreement involving a six-month ceasefire in three battleground Syrian towns, a monitoring group said Thursday.

“Under Turkish and Iranian sponsorship and with guarantees from the United Nations, an agreement has been reached between Lebanon's Hizbullah and the fighters of Zabadani and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham movement in Zabadani, Fuaa and Kafraya,” the anti-regime Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced.

The mainly Shiite Fuaa and Kafraya are the two remaining villages in Idlib province in the northwest still in regime hands while Zabadani is the rebels' last stronghold near the Lebanese border.

Citing “preliminary information,” the Observatory said the deal envisages the evacuation of women and children from Fuaa and Kafraya in return for the withdrawal of Zabadani's rebels along with their families to the Idlib province.

It also involves “the evacuation of critically wounded people from the town of Madaya that is adjacent to Zabadani, a six-month ceasefire and other points.”

Several ceasefires had been reached in the three towns in the past.

Pro-government forces and Hizbullah launched an offensive to try to recapture Zabadani in July, prompting a rebel alliance -- including members of al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front -- to besiege the Idlib villages of Fuaa and Kafraya, whose residents are Shiites.

Last week, the rebels launched one of their fiercest attacks to date on Fuaa and Kafraya.

The assault began on Friday with at least nine car bombs against the outskirts of the two villages -- seven of them detonated by suicide bombers.

At least 66 rebels, 40 pro-government militiamen and seven civilians were killed in the latest assault, according to the Observatory. 

Sunday's ceasefire was the third attempt to agree a truce for the three areas. A ceasefire last month lasted only 48 hours.

Hizbullah has sent thousands of fighters across the border to support Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces against the Islamist-led militants fighting to topple him. The group's intervention has helped the Syrian army recapture most towns in the Qalamoun region near the border with Lebanon.

Hundreds of Hizbullah fighters have been reportedly killed in the conflict to date.

In total, more than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

The fighting has since evolved into a complex civil war involving rebels, the regime, al-Qaida and Islamic State jihadists, Lebanon's Hizbullah and Kurdish fighters.

Y.R.