A cease-fire has been agreed to in northwestern Syria, including Idlib Province and parts of nearby Hama Province, Syrian state media reported on Thursday, citing an anonymous military source. A pre-condition for the ceasefire is reportedly for rebel fighters to adhere to terms of a de-escalation agreement brokered last year by Russia and Turkey. Since April, Russian-backed Syrian forces have been waging an offensive in the region, the last major rebel stronghold against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies. Assad has vowed to take back “every inch” of Syria. Air strikes by the Syrian government and its allies have hit schools, hospitals, markets and bakeries, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said last week. More than 400 civilians have been confirmed killed in the escalation of violence in northwestern Syria over the past three months and more than 440,000 have been displaced, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that some 700 civilians in Idlib have been killed during Syrian or Russian attacks during this period, while rebel attacks against state-held areas have killed 53. Some 1,500 combatants on both sides have been killed.
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