A roadside landmine hit a joint Russian-Turkish patrol in northwestern Syria Tuesday, leaving three Russian soldiers and an unspecified number of Turkish troops wounded.
The Russian military said the attack happened while Russian and Turkish troops were patrolling the M4 highway in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone.
It said the wounded Russian soldiers were quickly evacuated to the Russian base at Hemeimeem and their lives weren’t in danger.
A Turkish armored vehicle that was taking part in the patrol was also damaged and some of its crew were wounded, the Russian military said. It didn’t say how many Turkish servicemen were involved.
Russia and Turkey have been conducting regular patrols in the province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.
Turkey, which backs rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad, agreed a ceasefire with Russia in March after months of fighting displaced nearly 1 million people in Idlib. Moscow supports Syrian regime forces.
The truce halted a terrifying three-month air and ground campaign that killed hundreds and sent 1 million people fleeing toward the Turkish border.
The agreement did not force the Assad forces to roll back significant military gains made in Russian-backed offensive for the past three months — a key Turkish demand prior to the talks.
The nine-year-old war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and forced 13 million people from their homes, half of whom have left their shattered homeland.
With AP
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.