Reconciliation Center Says Terrorists Shelled Syria's Idlib De-escalation Zone 27 Times

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said at a briefing that the Jabhat al-Nusra* terrorist group had shelled Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone 27 times over the past 24 hours.

"Over the past day, twenty-seven 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 (14 attacks), Latakia (5), Aleppo (2) and Hama (6)," Rear Adm. Kulit said.

He said the number of attacks according to the Syrian side's data totaled 20.

Rear Adm. Kulit said militants of illegal armed groups operating in the territory controlled by the Turkish Armed Forces twice fired at the positions of the Syrian government forces in the Tell Rifaat district of Aleppo province. The militants fired mortar shells from the area of ​​the Yalychny settlement at the positions of the government forces in the area of ​​the Jamusiya locality.

"Also, the government troops' positions in the area of ​​the village of Umm Al Jud were subjected to an artillery attack by the militants from the area of ​​the Yalychny settlement," he said.

Rear Adm. Kulit said no Syrian servicemen were killed.

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.

*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.