On December 29, 2017, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a press statement that confirmed a nationwide ceasefire agreement had been reached in Syria to take effect at midnight on December 30, 2017. According to the press statement, the agreement exclude groups that the UN Security Council had defined as terrorist groups in previous related resolutions.
According to field activists in the Latakia countryside as well as the western countryside of Idlib, six hours before the beginning of the ceasefire "before the ceasefire agreement", the regular Syrian army initiated an intensive campaign on the following villages in the west countryside of Idlib: Annajya, Bdama, al-Barnas, Obien, Safiat and al-Hambosha. The assault also included the villages in the Turkmen Mountain (al-Yamdia, Slour and Ein Issa) and the villages in the Kurd Mountain in Latakia (Tardeen, al-Haddadah, Talat al-Kheder and Barzeh). All the above locations are controlled by the armed opposition and no elements of Fatah- al Sham Group (Al-Nusra Front) or the group that identifies as the Islamic State (also known as Daesh) are known to exist there.
Fadi Ahmad, an activist who lives in the area, assured Syrians for Truth and Justice that the cease-fire had been violated by the regular forces, specifically that towns and villages in the area were targeted both sporadically and indiscriminately. Ahmad elaborated further:
"All villages in Latakia countryside and the west countryside of Idlib are controlled by the Free Syrian Army (the armed opposition) and are supposed to be included-ceasefire territories as we heard from the media. It is noteworthy that elements of “Fatah– Al Sham,” formerly known as Al-Nusra Front, are stationed only in al-Kabinah village, whereas the rest are armed opposition-controlled villages like Tardeen, al-Haddadah, At-Tofahia, Talat al-Kheder and Barzeh."
He added:
Machine guns never stopped hitting Tardeen, al-Kindah and Talat al-Kheder since the first day of the truce Friday 30, December 2016, particularly in the first hours of the morning. In the afternoon, the regime forces targeted a car but no injuries occurred. While on Saturday 31, December 2016, the regime forces stationed in Shelf Castle hit a few villages in the west countryside of Idlib without causing any casualties. In turn, other missiles by the regime forces stationed in al-Baidaa Hill fell on the Turkmen Mountain in the east countryside of Latakia. Also, at about 9:20 pm, the regime forces hit Bdama village, in the west countryside of Idlib, with rockets launched from Joreen Camp and then initiated rocket attacks at 11:10 pm on Bdama, al-Kinda and Anajya. On Sunday 1, January 2017, at about 1:30 am, Badama was attacked once again by anonymous-source rocket launchers”.
(Link to read the full text of UN Security Council had adopted the resolution 2336, submitted by Turkey/Russia, to end the hostilities and start a political process in Syria.)