A Russian military police unit has arrived at the joint observation post with the Syrian army in the town of Ayn Issa, Raqqa province in northern Syria.
"The task of my unit is to prevent the militants from breaking through towards the town of Ayn Issa, as well as to monitor the M4 highway. With the arrival of the Russian military it became much easier for us, the situation has finally normalized," Usam Ahmad, the commander of the Syrian army unit serving at the observation post, told reporters.
The post was a few hundred meters away from the fighters' positions and the Syrian army had previously held it on its own, enduring shelling and even attacks from illegal armed groups.
Now that Russian military police are stationed at the post, the Syrians are hoping the militants will respect the previous agreements. This will be the third post in the Ayn Issa area where Russian and Syrian soldiers will be observing the ceasefire together.
On Russian-Turkish agreements
On October 22, 2019, Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in Sochi adopted a memorandum on joint actions to resolve the situation in northeastern Syria. According to the document, Russian military police and Syrian forces were introduced into areas bordering the Turkish security zone. On November 1 of the same year, the Russian and Turkish military began joint patrols east of the Euphrates River.
In Raqqa province, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties, more than 2,000 ceasefire violations were recorded in the past two months.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: AP Photo / Baderkhan Ahmad / TASS
Based on materials from TASS