Militants Shell 11 Villages in 3 Syrian Provinces Over Past Day - Russian MoD

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Militants shelled 11 settlements in the Syrian provinces of Hama, Latakia and Idlib over the past 24 hours, head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian Reconciliation Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin said on Tuesday.

"Over the past day, terrorists attacked al-Shakfa, Skalbiya, Tall-Sahab and Maharda (two times) in Hama province, Nahshabba, Roiset-Roshu, Ruaset-Iskander (two times) and Kabuh in Latakia province, and Sukkari (two times), al-Wasita and Tall-Alush in Idlib province", Solomatin told a briefing.

The head of the reconciliation center also stressed that as of 25 February, in total 55,364 Syrians who evaded military service were granted amnesty by Damascus.

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Solomatin added that in total 224,506 Syrians returned home as of 25 February, and as many as ten checkpoints in the country were operating with support of the reconciliation center.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and militant and terrorist organizations. Russia, along with Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria. Moscow has also been providing humanitarian aid to residents of the crisis-torn country.

Despite the fact that the years-long armed conflict in Syria seems to be nearing its end, the country still bears the traces of violent clashes and the presence of rebel and militant groups. The Syrian military's engineering units carry out regular operations to clear affected regions of mines and other types of explosive devices.

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