MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. A number of settlements in Syria’s Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces came under shelling by militants from illegal armed groups in the past day, Major General Alexey Bakin, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, said on Monday.
"Throughout the day, militants shelled the settlements of Ain al-Qantara, al-Areym, Nahshebba, Ain al-Naur, Safsara and Ikko in the Latakia province; Jalama, Kokab, Kara Jurn and Metdan in the Hama governorate. The settlement of Qudehi in the Aleppo province came under mortar shelling from the positions of Hayat Tahrih al-Sham [also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia] militants near the settlement of Khan Tuman. As a result of shelling, eleven civilians were killed and 15 more were wounded," Bakin said.
In the past day, the Russian reconciliation center conducted two humanitarian operations in the settlement of Daraya in the Damascus province and in Aleppo’s Mogambo neighborhood.
An agreement on complete ceasefire on the entire territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone starting from June 12 was reached with Russia’s and Turkey’s mediation. But Jabhat al-Nusra and a number of other extremist groups, including Ahrar al-Sham, refused to observe it, he added.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.