Syrian protestors affirm adherence to Cairo de-escalation deal

CAIRO - 17 August 2017: Syrian protesters asserted on Thursday their adherence to the de-escalation deal which was signed in Cairo the last few days, considering it the only solution to the crisis.

Popular demonstrations took place on Thursday in the cities of Talbiseh, Toledo and the town of Al-Dar al-Kabirah in Syria, demanding the release of detainees and the halt of the bloodshed in the northern Homs countryside.

Demonstrators in Talbiseh stressed their support for the al-Tawhid army (Unification Army) in all their resolutions, demanding accountability for all who conspire against the agreement signed in Cairo, especially after the recent leaks on attempts to destroy the agreement and efforts to secure the lives of civilians in northern Homs.

On 5 August, Syria’s “Al-Ghad” (Tomorrow) opposition movement chairperson stated that Egypt has sponsored the ceasefire that was announced in war-stricken areas in northern Syria because it was not involved in any attempt to shed the blood of the Syrian people.

Egypt and Russia have brokered two ceasefire agreements between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and armed opposition fighters in certain areas in northern Syria.

The Syrian political situation has been deteriorating since the protests that emerged with the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011, when the opposition created the ‘Free Syrian Army’ to face Assad’s forces. The situation worsened when the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group interfered in the country in 2014.

About 470,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the war as of February 2016, according to latest data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some 1.6 million Syrian have been domestically displaced, while the number of refugees has reached 4.8 million people, the data added.