Northwestern Syria offensive

Turkish and Russian forces have carried out their ninth joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on May 7.

"Within the framework of TUR-RF Agreement/Protocol, the 9th TUR-RF Combined Land Patrol on M-4 Highway in Idlib was conducted with the participation of land and air elements," the ministry said in a tweet.

Turkish and Russian forces have carried out their eighth joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Syria, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on May 5. 

"Within the framework of TUR-RF Agreement/Protocol, the 8th TUR-RF Combined Land Patrol on M-4 Highway in Idlib was conducted with the participation of land and air elements," the ministry said on Twitter.

Turkish and Russian forces conducted the seventh joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Syria, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on April 30. 

"Within the framework of TUR-RF Agreement/Protocol, the 7th TUR-RF Combined Land Patrol on M-4 Highway in Idlib was conducted with the participation of land and air elements," the ministry said on Twitter.

Russia on April 23 praised Turkey's efforts in Idlib, northwestern Syria that aim to eliminate terrorists.

Speaking at a news conference in the capital, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow expects the Turkish military to separate opposition groups from what it called "terrorists" in the region.

Turkish and Russian military forces have carried out another joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Syria, said Turkey's Defense Ministry on April 21. 

"Fifth combined Turkish-Russian land patrol was conducted today by air and ground vehicles on M4 motorway in Syria's Idlib province, as part of the earlier TR-RF agreement," the ministry said on Twitter.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran will hold a teleconference meeting on April 22 to discuss the developments in the Idlib province of Syria amid a fragile ceasefire between the Turkish army and Syrian regime forces.

The war in Syria killed 103 civilians in March, marking the lowest monthly non-combatant death toll since the start of the conflict in 2011, a war monitor said on April 1.    

Of the total deaths, some 51 people were killed in shelling and air strikes by the Syrian regime, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.     

Turkey and Russia have carried out their second joint patrolling on the M4 highway in the Idlib province of Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced on March 23. 

Turkey's Defense Ministry on March 20 ruled out rumours about the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

The ministry said in a written statement that the planned deployment and distribution of troops in Idlib continue.

Turkey's Defense Ministry said on March 19 that two of its soldiers were killed and another was injured in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, in a rocket attack by "some radical groups".

In a written statement, the ministry said the radical groups in the de-escalation zone attacked Turkish soldiers, adding that its forces had opened fire on targets in the area.