MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Reports by some Turkish media outlets asserting that Syrian "moderate opposition" units have captured the city of Saraqib in Syria’s Idlib province are out of sync with reality, a military source told reporters on Thursday.
"Militants’ attacks against the city of Saraqib have been successfully repelled by Syrian government troops. The city is fully controlled by the Syrian government," the latter said.
According to the source, "the city is fully controlled by the Syrian government." He added that "despite regular attacks by militants, mine clearance and preparations for restoring civilian life continue" there.
Saraqib, a strategically important city located to the south-east of the province's center, Idlib, at the intersection of the Aleppo-Hama and the Aleppo-Latakia highways, was liberated by the Syrian army on February 5. The success of the government forces has sparked Ankara’s discontent.
On February 19, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that Syria withdraw its troops to the positions they held in late December, prior to the beginning of military operations against terrorists in the eastern part of the Idlib province.