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

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist group shelled settlements in the Syrian provinces of Idlib, Latakia, and Aleppo, the deputy head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, Rear Admiral Alexander Grinkevich, said on Friday.

"We have registered 12 attacks on the Kafer Hanni settlement in Aleppo province, Skira, Kinsibba, Ikko, Qastal in Latakia province, Jubas, Qursa'a, Ain al-Naur, Dadikh, Mallaja and Ma'ar Shoreen in Idlib province from the positions of the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra*", Grinkevich said.

The military official added that the Russian military police units had also conducted patrols in Aleppo's Manbij area.

According to Grinkevich, no shelling from the side of the Turkish-controlled armed groups has been registered in the past 24 hours.

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.