Syrian rebel groups on Monday said they had decided to freeze any peace talks as the Bashar-al Assad government had violated the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on December 30, reported Reuters. The peace talks were slated to be held in Kazakh capital Astana later this month.
“The regime and its allies have continued firing and committed many and large violations,” the rebel groups said in a letter released on Monday. They added that Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters were leading a battle in the rebel-held region of Wadi Barada and Eastern Ghouta.
“Any [advance] on the ground goes against the [ceasefire] agreement, and if things don’t return to how they were before, the accord will be considered null and void,” the statement added, according to AFP. The rebels’ letter also alleged that the Syrian Army was trying to recapture the area that supplies drinking water to four million residents of capital city Damascus and its surrounding areas.
The ceasefire, which came into effect last week, was an attempt to end the six-year-long bloodshed in the West Asian nation. However, clashes between rebel groups and government troops were reported a day after the truce came into effect along the boundary between Idlib and Hama.
Several rebel groups had signed the ceasefire deal, the third attempt this year at a nationwide truce. The two previous ceasefires brokered by Washington and Moscow, took effect in February and September. However, both collapsed within weeks as fighting intensified, while Russia and the United States accused each other of truce violations.
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