Attack on a Russian patrol in Syria

The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria reported that a terrorist-made IED exploded at the route of the joint Russian-Turkish patrol on the M4 highway. The explosion occurred near the village of Erich, in the southern part of the Idlib DMZ. The center clarified that the Russian troops were slightly injured — there is no threat to their lives. All the wounded troops were quickly taken out of the area. The wounded Russians were delivered to the airbase ‘Khmeimim’. The Turkish crew members were also injured. Currently, the patrolling has been stopped. The damaged equipment is being evacuated. »The command of the Russian group of forces in Syria, together with the Turkish military, and the Syrian security agencies, are trying to identify which terrorists, operating in the Idlib DMZ, made an attack on the convoy» — the report concluded.

The Syrian state-run news agency ‘SANA’ reported that on Thursday evening, the Syrian air defenses repelled drone attacks near the city of Salamiyah, in the Hama province. «The sounds that were heard in the evening are the result of the work of the air defense systems in the city of Salamia while they were repelling the drone attack» — the SANA explained. Currently it is being investigated who the drones belonged to, and where they were sent from.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported that on Monday morning, the Azerbaijani troops resumed the artillery shelling of the Armenian positions on the state border in the Tavush region of the country. “The Armenian troops gave an equal response” — the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry announced on ‘Facebook’. The Armenian Foreign Ministry reported that the Armenian Foreign Minister, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, is in a constant contact with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict due to the tense situation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On Monday, the Armenian Foreign Minister discussed the border situation with the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Stanislav Zas. The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, blamed the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan for the destabilization of the situation in the region. He called the actions of the Azerbaijani troops to be a «provocation.»

On Thursday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the resumption of the fights in the Tovuz region, on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. «Starting from the morning of 16th of July, the Armenian forces once again tried to attack the positions of the Azerbaijani army on the section of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in the Tovuz region» — the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced. The Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed the report on the fighting, and added that the Azerbaijani troops tried to commit a sabotage, after which they began shelling the border villages of Aygepar and Movses. “The Armenian troops prevented the hostile sabotage attempt. The enemy suffered losses, and was thrown back” — said the press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry, Shushan Stepanyan.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, announced that the USA are supplying the extremists with weapons in the areas of Syria, currently occupied by the US forces. The US troops also train the terrorists. “In the areas occupied by the USA, the terrorists are not only not eliminated, but on the contrary — they are encouraged to carry out their actions. There is information that the US forces, currently holding the security zone around Al-Tanf, are training and supplying weapons to the terrorists. This is being carried out for the sabotage actions in other parts of Syria. According to mass media reports — on the other day, the Syrian forces detained 3 extremists who confirmed that they participated in the attacks on the Russian and Syrian facilities by the task from the US instructors» — Maria Zakharova concluded.

The representative of the Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, Maxim Solokha, announced that the Russian military carried out humanitarian actions in 2 Syrian villages. The humanitarian aid was provided to the residents of the village of Hardetnin, in the Aleppo province, and the village of Khbara Segira, in the Hasakah province. «Today we distributed food packages to the people in need. We are also monitoring and helping the repair work on the social infrastructure. There are problems with the water supply. We will petition to the provincial governor to restore the water supply as soon as possible» — said Maxim Solokha. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.