Clashes erupt hours into Syria ceasefire deal

Deadly clashes erupted in Idlib on Friday (March 6), hours into a ceasefire deal between Russia and Turkey.

The fruit of six hours of talks in Moscow late Thursday (March 5), to contain the latest bout of bloodshed in Syria's last rebel enclave.

It's already looking fragile. At least 15 people were killed in fighting between government forces and jihadist insurgents, the Syrian Observatory war monitor said.

Idlib has been the center of a tug of war in recent weeks, with Moscow and Ankara -- which back opposing sides in the war -- edging closer to direct confrontation.

Shaky ceasefires that bring relative calm have punctuated Syria's nine-year war, but all have collapsed.

For this deal Russia and Turkey have agreed to set up a security corridor along Idlib's main highway and conduct joint patrols.

But many say this isn't enough. It didn't establish a safe zone or say how nearly a million people displaced in the last three months could return to their homes.

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED FROM IDLIB, ABU ALI, SAYING:

"If people don't return home, what does the truce mean? Okay, you implemented a ceasefire and I am here displaced. And maybe I won't be able to go home for 10 years or 15 years. So how do I benefit from this truce or ceasefire?"

It also freezes the conflict along existing front lines, in effect cementing recent significant gains by President Bashar al-Assad's Russian-backed forces.