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Militants Continue Shelling Settlements in Syria's North, Russian Military Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist group shelled settlements in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, the head of the Russian centre for Syrian reconciliation, Alexander Shcherbitsky, said at a daily briefing on Sunday.
Sputnik
"We have registered one shelling of the Tell Mardikh settlement, one shelling of the Ikko settlement in the Latakia province, and one shelling of the Arbikh settlement, one shelling of the Bsakla settlement, one shelling of the Melajja settlement and one shelling of the Khan Tuman in the Idlib province — coming from positions of the Nusra* terrorists", Shcherbitsky said.

As per the 2019 Russian-Turkish memorandum, forces of the two countries have conducted joint patrolling in the Hasakah province.

Additionally, the Russian military police have continued patrolling in the province of Aleppo, while the air force conducted aerial patrolling in the target areas.

On 5 March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed on a ceasefire in Idlib, which started at midnight. The sides also agreed to create a security corridor six kilometres (3.7 miles) north and south of the M4 highway in Syria, which connects the provinces of Latakia and Aleppo.

Militants remain in control of a small pocket of the Idlib province in northwest Syria.

*Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.

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