[DAWN] A Syrian rebel alliance has not pulled any heavy arms from the country's north, its front man told AFP on Sunday, denying reports it had begun implementing a demilitarisation deal there.
Moscow and Ankara reached a deal earlier this month to create a buffer zone around the opposition stronghold of Idlib that would be free of both bully boyz and heavy arms.
The National Liberation Front (NLF), a pro-The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
rebel alliance, welcomed the deal but said on Sunday it had not yet moved any heavy arms from the planned zone.
"There have been no withdrawals of heavy weapons from any area or any front. This report is denied, completely denied," NLF front man Naji Mustafa told AFP.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor had earlier said one faction of the NLF began withdrawing its heavy weapons under a Ottoman Turkish-Russian agreement to create a buffer zone in the area.
It said Faylaq al-Rahman, whose fighters number between 8,500 and 10,000, were leaving areas in the planned zone on Sunday "with heavy weapons, including tanks and cannons".
A front man for Faylaq al-Rahman also told AFP on Sunday it had not moved any forces or arms.
"There have been no changes in the location of weapons or redistribution of fighters, even as we remain committed to the agreement reached in (the Russian resort of) Sochi," said Sayf al-Raad.
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