MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Su-24 bombers of Russia’s Aerospace Force delivered a strike against terrorists in the Idlib de-escalation zone who broke into Syrian territory in an attack, the Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides said in a statement on Thursday.

"In order to prevent terrorist groups from advancing deep into the Syrian territory, Su-24 aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Force delivered a strike at the request of the Syrian command against the terrorists’ armed formations that had penetrated the area. This helped the Syrian troops to repel all the attacks successfully. They eliminated one tank, six infantry fighting vehicles and five pick-up trucks with the militants’ large-caliber guns," the statement reads.

Four Syrian servicemen were wounded in the Turkish army’s shelling, the Center reported.

The shelling stopped after the Turkish side was informed through the de-confliction channel that the Russian side had exposed its artillery fire.

The statement added that instances of the Turkish army’s backing militants had been registered before and urged the Turkish side to refrain from delivering them armament and rendering further support in order to avoid incidents.

On February 20, terrorists carried out a few massive attacks with a large number of armored vehicles targeting Syrian army units near the Kminas and Nayrab communities. "The militants’ actions were supported by the Turkish armed forces’ artillery fire which allowed them to breach Syrian army defenses," the center noted.