MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. The Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria has registered militants’ movement near the Idlib de-escalation zone, the center’s head, Major General Alexei Bakin, told reporters.
"About 120 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants, three armored vehicles and four pickup trucks with heavy machine guns are moving from the area close to the inhabited community of Hish," he said. "The Ajnad al-Kavkaz terror group has dispatched about 200 militants, five armored vehicles, ten pickup trucks with heavy machine guns and two mine-studded trucks from the inhabited community of Kafr Sajna to the contact line."
According to Bakin, terrorists are trying to expand the area controlled by them by using force, amassing their armed units in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone.
He added that the Russian Reconciliation Center had registered 24 artillery bombardments in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours.
On September 17, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on creating a 15-20km deep demilitarized zone along the line of engagement in the Idlib province. However, later on, Ankara said it needed more time and asked to put off the start of joint patrols in Idlib due to inability to guarantee security.