World

Militants Shell Settlements in Syria's Latakia, Aleppo Provinces, Russian Military Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist group shelled settlements in the Syrian provinces of Latakia and Aleppo, the deputy head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, Rear Admiral Alexander Grinkevich, said on Saturday.
Sputnik
"We have registered two attacks on the Urum as Sughra settlement in Aleppo province, Kinsibba in Latakia province from the positions of the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra*", Grinkevich said.

The official added that the Russian military police units had also conducted patrols in Aleppo's Manbij area, as well as in the provinces of Raqqa, Al Hasakah, and Deir Ez Zor.

According to Grinkevich, the Russian air force conducted aerial patrolling along fixed routes.

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