World

Militants Shell Localities in Syria's Idlib, Aleppo Provinces, Russian Military Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist group has attacked settlements in Syria's provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, Rear Admiral Alexander Shcherbitsky, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry's centre for Syrian reconciliation, said at a briefing.
Sputnik
"We have registered... attacks on the settlements of Jabla, Ma'arrat Hurma, Kafr Nabl, Dadikh, Mellaja in the province of Idlib... from the direction of the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra* organization", Shcherbitsky said.

The localities of Kherbet-Jezraya, Urum al-Kubra, and Arbikh in the province of Aleppo were also shelled, he said, adding that there had been a total of nine attacks on settlements in the two provinces.

The Russian military police conducted patrols in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo, Shcherbitsky added.

On Tuesday, the terrorist group shelled the settlements of Urum al-Kubra and Mellaja in the two provinces.

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 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.

Discuss