REPORT: Syria activists: Truce reached in blockaded town

Syrian activists said government officials and rebels have reached a deal to ease a weeks-long blockade on the rebel-held town of Qudsaya. 

The Qudsaya Media Team said early Sunday that the deal was made between local elders and officials of the government of President Bashar Assad, whose forces have blockaded Qudsaya for the past month. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late Saturday that the deal allowed food to enter.

In Syria's three-year conflict, where rebel groups are trying to overthrow the Assad government, both sides have blockaded towns to squeeze out fighters. The most affected however have been poor people struggling to buy food, the elderly, the sick and children.

In recent weeks Syrian mediators have been trying to ease blockades in several areas. 

Meanwhile, fighting raged for control of a key base protecting the government-held airport in the northern city of Aleppo.
 
The Brigade 80 base has been reported to have changed hands multiple times in the past day. It first fell to rebels in February, but the government retook it last week. Activists said that it was recaptured by rebels overnight Friday but by Sunday afternoon, troops loyal to Assad were again in control, said the Observatory and a Lebanese television channel that closely follows Syria.
 
Another pro-rebel activist in the Aleppo province said the clashes were still ongoing and it wasn't clear what the outcome of the fighting yet was.
 
The rebels fighting at Brigade 80 have been led by fighters from the Islamic Tawhid Brigade and two al-Qaeda-linked groups, the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
 
The activist and the Observatory said Shiite fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah were fighting alongside Syrian troops at the site, underscoring the importance of the battle. The government-held Aleppo International Airport, which has been closed due to fighting for almost a year, is one of the Syrian rebels' major objectives.
 
And in northeastern Syria, rebels killed lawmaker Mahjam al-Sahho, said the state-run news agency SANA. The 50-year-old was seized by gunmen affiliated with the al-Qaeda-affiliated ISIL several days ago, the agency said.

SNC leader:

The Syrian opposition will be represented at the upcoming Geneva 2 peace talks on a precondition that the Western powers provide aid and ensure humanitarian corridors for their strongholds, the head of the Western-backed Syrian opposition group said on Sunday.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, the leader of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Ahmad Jarba agreed to attend the conference that would include a delegation from the Syrian regime.

Less than a week ago, Jarba said he would not attend Geneva 2 talks unless there was a clear agenda to force Assad to leave the office.

AP


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