Syria's Idlib De-escalation Zone Shelled 40 Times in Past Day, Reconciliation Center Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group* shelled Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone 40 times over the past 24 hours, Rear Adm. Alexander Karpov, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said at a briefing.

"Forty shelling attacks from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group were registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone in the provinces of Idlib (20 attacks), Latakia (11), Aleppo (2) and Hama (7)," Rear Adm. Karpov said.

He said the number of attacks according to the Syrian side's data totaled 34.

Rear Adm. Karpov said no shelling on the part of illegal armed groups controlled by Turkey had been registered in the past day.

He said Russian military police units continued to escort civilian vehicles on the M4 highway between the Raqqa and al-Hasakah provinces.

The Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Control over the Movement of Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic was established in February 2016.

Its tasks include the signing of agreements on illegal armed groups and individual settlements joining the regime of cessation of hostilities, as well as coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid.

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*Jabhat al-Nusra (also known as Al-Nusra Front, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or al-Qaeda in Syria) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other states.