Turkish soldier killed in Syria’s Idlib

ISTANBUL: One Turkish soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Wednesday while on patrol in Syria´s Idlib region, the defence ministry said. The soldier “succumbed to his injuries after being taken to hospital,” the ministry said. The private DHA news agency said a bomb exploded on the key M4 highway in Idlib as a Turkish military convoy passed by. It is an area where Turkish-Russian joint patrols take place but it was not immediately clear if the Russian military were present at the time of the blast. In March, Russia and Turkey launched their first joint military patrol along the M4 highway following a ceasefire agreement.

The deal raised hopes of an end to one of the bloodiest phases in the nine-year conflict in Syria. A Russian-backed government offensive on the last rebel bastion in the country has killed hundreds of civilians since December and displaced close to a million people.