World

Russia, Turkey Hold Joint Patrol Training in Syria, Reconciliation Center Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia and Turkey have conducted a joint training to patrol the M4 highway in Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone, Rear Adm. Alexander Karpov, the deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said on Friday.
Sputnik

"A joint Russian-Turkish training was conducted to patrol the M4 highway in the area of Trumba settlement [eight miles southeast of Idlib]," Karpov said at a daily briefing.

During the training, the sides practiced the procedure for patrol actions during sniper fire and in the event of a threat of use of anti-tank guided missiles, among other things, the military added.

In a daily update on ceasefire violations, Karpov said that militants of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* carried out 35 attacks in Idlib over the past 24 hours.

"We have registered 35 instances of shelling in the Idlib de-escalation zone, launched from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (including 29 attacks based on data provided by the Syrian side), 20 of them in Idlib province, 10 in Latakia province, one in Aleppo province and four in Hama province," Karpov said.

No attacks by Turkey-backed armed groups were recorded over the given period, the military noted.


*Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other states

Discuss