Turkish forces remove sit-in point on M4 highway in southern Idlib

North-Press Agency

On Monday, Turkish forces managed to break up the sit-in on the M4 highway in southern Idlib province, northwest of Syria, during which locals of the region gathered with members of armed opposition groups to prevent the passage of the joint Russian-Turkish military patrol.

A field source in Idlib told North-Press that Turkish forces forcibly removed the sit-in point near the town of al-Nairab on a distance of about 800 meters from among the three protest points located on the M4 highway.

The source added that the road is now open for the patrol to start from the Tarenba area to al-Nairab, and the joint Russian-Turkish patrol is expected to be conducted today, Monday.

The sit-in on the M4 highway, near Ariha Bridge, started two days before the scheduled passage of the Russian-Turkish patrol on the highway.

Earlier today, a quarrel took place between protesters gathered on the M4 highway and members of Turkish forces, who deployed bulldozers and military vehicles between the towns of Arihah and al-Nairab to break up the sit-in.

Since the beginning of the joint Russian-Turkish patrols on the M4 highway according to the Russian-Turkish agreement on March 5th, residents and armed groups from the Idlib region have staged a sit-in on the M4 highway to prevent the passage of the patrols. A field source told North-Press that heavy gunfire could be heard at the site, but the source of the gunfire was unknown.