Several Russian soldiers were wounded Tuesday in a car bombing in northeastern Syria, according to Bild’s foreign policy editor Julian Röpcke.
“Massive car bomb attack on Russian vehicles within a joint Turkish-Russian patrol on the M4 highway in Idlib,” Röpcke said.
At the same time, some sources reported that at least 3 Russian soldiers wounded as per initial reports.
Also, journalist Middle East and conflict areas National Security Levent Kemal has released a short video that shows moment of a car bomb attack on Russian vehicles.
İdlib’te ortak devriye sırasında Türk ve Rus askeri araçlarının geçişi esnasında bir bombalı araç saldırısı gerçekleşti. pic.twitter.com/DTbmr310zz
— Levent Kemal (@leventkemaI) July 14, 2020
Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria announced Tuesday also said that three Russian servicemen sustained light injuries in an explosion in Syria’s Idlib during a joint patrol with Turkish counterparts.
“On July 14, at about 8:50 Moscow time, an improvised explosive device detonated near the settlement of Erikha during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol of the M4 highway. Three Russian servicemen sustained light injuries,” the Center said, adding that there are injured among the Turkish crew as well.
“All injured were promptly evacuated from the area. Russian servicemen were delivered to the Kmeimim base, where they received all necessary medical aid. Their lives are out of danger,” the announcement says.
Following the incident, the joint patrolling was stopped, damaged vehicles are being evacuated.
“The command of the Russian armed forces group in Syria, in cooperation with the Turkish military and the Syrian national security agencies, seeks to determine whether militants operating in the Idlib de-escalation area are involved in attack on the convoy,” the Center said.
The M4 highway, also known as the Aleppo-Al Hasakah road, is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Turkey’s southern border.
This March, Ankara and Moscow agreed on a protocol urging parties to “cease all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area.”
The protocol said joint Turkish-Russian patrols would begin on March 15 along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba – 2 km (1.2 miles) west of Saraqib – to the settlement of Ain al-Havr.
Idlib has long been under siege by Assad regime forces and its allies, and previous cease-fires for the region were plagued by violations.
