DAMASCUS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish intelligence is holding intensive talks with rebel factions in Syria's Idlib for pulling out weapons from the planned demilitarized zone in that part of the country, a monitor group reported Friday.
Meetings have been recently taking place between representatives of the rebel groups in Idlib and the Turkish intelligence to reach a mechanism to impose the demilitarized zone that was agreed upon by Turkey and Russia in Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The rebel factions in Idlib control 70 percent of the planned demilitarized zone in Idlib, as the rest is controlled by the Syrian army.
The Turkish effort to persuade the rebels to withdraw from the planned demilitarized zone comes as several rebel factions, mainly those affiliated with al-Qaida, have rejected the Turkish-Russian deal.
The UK-based watchdog group said none of the rebel groups have evacuated the demilitarized zone, which should be established by mid-October.
Throughout the more than seven-year-long war, Idlib has emerged as the main destination and stronghold for the rebels fleeing other parts of Syria through deals or surrender.
The Syrian government estimates that up to 50,000 rebels are located in Idlib.
The al-Qaida-linked groups, including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, otherwise referred to as the Nusra Front, are the most powerful among other rebel factions in Idlib.
Due to the presence of many rebel groups with different affiliations in Idlib, the lawlessness has ramped up dramatically in recent months.
The Observatory said Thursday that 319 people, including civilians and rebel fighters, had been killed in the last five months as a result of the lawlessness.
Earlier this month, Turkey, a backer of the opposition, and Russia, which is the key backer of the Syrian government, agreed to establish a demilitarized zone at a depth between 15-20 km between the Syrian forces and the rebels in Idlib.
The deal averted Idlib a wide-scale military offensive by the Syrian army, which expressed divisiveness in dealing with Idlib as it's the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.
According to the deal, the rebels would withdraw from the demilitarized zone along with heavy weapons.
The establishment of the demilitarized zone is set for Oct. 15.
