Thousands of refugees from the opposition-held Idlib started to return to their homes within 48 hours of the announcement of a deal to avert a regime offensive on the northwestern province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday.
"Around 7,000 people have returned to their towns and villages since the announcement of the deal on Monday, especially in the southeast of Idlib and the north of (neighboring) Hama," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Observatory.
At a camp for the displaced in the town of Atme on the Turkish border on Tuesday, dozens of Syrians held up banners welcoming the agreement.
"We will return, God permitting," said one.
"Thank you to our Turkish brothers," said another, signed by the people of a town in the north of Hama province that had been bombarded in recent weeks.
One of the demonstrators, Marhaf al-Jadou, said he was tired of running from the shelling and air strikes.
"Enough of being displaced and sitting in tents. We want to return to our homes and our children to their schools," he said.
The United Nations said that in the first 12 days of September, over 38,000 people were internally displaced by an intense regime aerial bombing campaign in Idlib and neighboring provinces.
But many headed home after a deal was reached on Monday between Russia and Turkey to create a demilitarized buffer zone along the front line, as the first step in a wider settlement, the Observatory said.
The United Nations has given cautious backing to the Russian-Turkish agreement.
It "will allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and for the saving of civilian lives," UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria, Ali al-Zaatari, said on Tuesday.
"We are engaging with all parties involved for more information and how this can be used to allow us to further access people in need," he told AFP on Wednesday.
The civil war in Syria has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions more since it erupted with the brutal repression of anti-regime protests in 2011.
