Turkey’s Proxies Opened Fire At Russian Patrol On M4 Highway In Syria (Video)

On December 20, Turkish-backed militants opened fire at a patrol of the Russian Military Police, which was moving to reopen the M4 highway in northeastern Syria.

The patrol, which set off from the town of Ain Issa in northern Raqqa, was tasked with escorting a convoy of civilian vehicles along the M4 highway.

The M4 links Raqqa with al-Hasakah and Aleppo. Six months ago, the highway was reopened by the Russian Military Police. However, the highway was later closed again as a result of intense Turkish shelling on Ain Issa.

“Factions loyal to Ankara deliberately opened machine gun fire at the Russian patrol eastern of Ain Issa,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report. “The patrol responded to the sources of fire and traffic [on the highway] stopped as a result.”

The Ministry of Defense of Russia has not commented on the incident so far. Turkish-backed militants are directly commanded by the Turkish military and intelligence.

The incident came two days after a Turkish-led attack on Ain Issa. The attack, which violated two separate ceasefire agreement Ankara signed with the U.S. and Russia, was a failure. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) held onto their positions around the town.

The Russian Military Police and several Syrian Arab Army units are situated in a series of positions inside and around Ain Issa to monitor the ceasefire.

Russia is reportedly pressuring the SDF into handing over Ain Issa and its surroundings to the Damascus government. The move will supposedly prevent a Turkish invasion of the region. Recent reports said the Kurdish-led group is about to accept the Russian proposal.