A rebel group blocks a bridge on the strategic highway linking Aleppo and Lachay
An unidentified armed group blew up an M4 motorway bridge on Wednesday. The perpetrator of this attack, according to several local media, could have been a militiaman from the Syrian group Jebhat al-Nusra. Under the ceasefire agreement signed between Ankara and Moscow on 5 March, the Russian and Turkish armed forces have been conducting joint patrols along the Aleppo-Damascus and Aleppo-Latakia motorways for the past fortnight.
The agreement signed between Putin and Erdogan provided for the creation of a "security corridor" of at least six kilometres around the motorway connecting Aleppo and Lachay, known as the M4. After blocking this strategic road once more by blowing up a bridge located on the route used by Turkish and Syrian militias, traffic on this strategic highway was stopped, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
On the other hand, several local media have explained that the bridge is located in the village of al-Kafeir in the area of Jisr al-Shughur and that it was blown up with explosives by rebel groups to cut off the M4 international highway and not allow it to be used again, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
The area of de-escalation of tensions in Idlib province remains vulnerable. Despite the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between Ankara and Moscow, the situation remains complicated. Threats and attacks in the so-called Putin-Erdogan area are intensifying week by week. This threat is now compounded by the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which could have disastrous consequences in the region if action is not taken in time. The reason for the negotiations at the Turkish-Russian summit earlier this month was the worsening situation in Idlib, where a large-scale offensive by the Syrian army began in January.
While forces loyal to President Bachar Al-Asad recovered almost half of the de-escalation zone in Idlib, Ankara decided to increase its presence in the northern region and launched operation 'Spring Shield'. Turkey deployed thousands of troops and military vehicles in Idlib province to "stop the advance of Syrian government forces in the region", which has forced more than a million people to leave their homes.
The Turkish Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar, announced at the end of February the beginning of the military operation 'Spring Shield' in response to the attacks of the Syrian Army against the Turkish forces deployed in the region of Idlib, which resulted in the death of more than 30 Turkish military personnel. Turkey claimed to be working to protect civilians in the area, as set out in the agreement signed in September 2018 with Damascus-allied Russia. This agreement prohibited acts of aggression in the de-escalation zone established around Idlib.
Turkey's latest move in this region has been to establish a new military post in the town of Al-Kufayr in the Jisr Al-Shughur countryside, west of Idlib, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, a London-based organization. It said an armed group booby-trapped and blew up the Al-Kufayr bridge on the Lataquia-Aleppo international highway (M4) west of Jisr Al-Shughur village on Wednesday. "This incident comes on top of the practices of this type of group that expresses its rejection of the recent agreement between Turkey and Russia," they lamented.
This is the second bridge that has been destroyed by the rebels in Idlib province since the Moscow agreement was implemented on March 5, according to the Al Masdar News. The Russian army has been unable to carry out its patrols along the M-4 motorway because of constant threats to its security. Russian militias have therefore refrained from such patrols after one of their convoys was blocked by more than 60 demonstrators. According to the Russian Reconciliation Centre, Turkey has promised to expel these extremist militias from the highway, but has not done so so far.