MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Units of the Syrian armed forces entered the village of Ternaba west of Saraqib in the Idlib governorate, cutting the Latakia-Aleppo highway used as a resupply route for militant groups, the SANA news agency reported.

According to the agency, Syrian troops are now stationed eight kilometers from Idlib, the administrative center of the eponymous governorate captured by militants in 2015.

After liberating on January 28 the town of Maaret al-Numan, a stronghold of terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), the Syrian army has begun advancing towards Saraqib from three directions: the south, the east and the west. The town of Saraqib is located at the strategically important crossing of the Latakia-Aleppo and Damascus-Aleppo highways, and its liberation can substantially speed up the defeat of militant groups in Idlib.

The rapid progress of the Syrian army in this area has irritated Turkey, which renders support to militants fighting against the pro-government forces. According to Al Arabiya, 195 Turkish military vehicles, including armored vehicles and tanks, as well as trucks with ammunition, crossed the Turkish-Syrian border on Sunday. Another Turkish military convoy entered Idlib on Monday.

The Turkish air force and artillery had carried out strikes against 40 targets in Syria’s Idlib on Monday. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said 76 Syrian servicemen had been ‘eliminated’ as a result. Ankara claimed that the attack was carried out to avenge the Syrian army’s shelling of Turkish posts in Saraqib, in which five Turkish servicemen and three members of the civilian personnel were killed.

Earlier, the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing parties in Syria said Turkish military personnel had come under an attack of Syrian troops in Idlib, because Turkey had failed to notify Russia about the movements of its troops in advance. The Syrian troops were firing on terrorists retreating to Saraqib.