MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. Ankara requested Moscow’s assistance to ensure the security of its military after terrorists had shelled a Turkish army observation point in Syria’s Idlib, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Overnight to June 13, terrorists, using artillery weapons, shelled an observation point belonging to Turkey’s military forces located near the Jabal Zawiya highland region in the Idlib province, the ministry said.

"Given the lethal threat to its personnel, the Turkish command turned to the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides, requesting assistance in ensuring the security of its military and carrying out strikes against the terrorists’ positions," the statement said.

The Defense Ministry said earlier that Russian Aerospace Force eliminated large group of militants who shelled the positions of the Turkish Armed Forces in Idlib. 

Earlier on Thursday, Ankara’s top military brass reported that at least three Turkish servicemen were wounded during an armed attack on their positions in the Idlib de-escalation zone. According to reports on Wednesday, at Russia’s request an agreement on a complete ceasefire in the entire de-escalation zone was reached from midnight on June 12, which was brokered by Moscow and Ankara. Tensions in the Idlib de-escalation zone have subsided in the past 24 hours thanks to the ceasefire, Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria, Maj. Gen. Viktor Kupchishin, said.