Syrian Observatory: Russian forces are deployed along entire "M5" road

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deployment of Russian forces on the entire Damascus-Aleppo International Highway in Idlib, where military vehicles and Russian soldiers were seen spreading north of the city of Maarat al-Numan and along the M5 highway in Idlib.

It appears that this step is the implementation of the (Putin and Erdogan) agreement on Idlib, which the two sides reached in 2018, under the name of a demilitarized zone.

This agreement provides for the establishment of a (demilitarized) zone with a width of between 15 and 20 kilometers along the seam, which was supposed to begin implementation in October 15, 2018.

The Russian military police and the Turkish army were supposed to control this area, while mercenary groups would withdraw from it, and traffic on international roads (M4-M5) would resume.

However, this agreement did not implement any of its provisions, and the battles continued in the region, until the regime forces, with Russian support, launched a military operation through which they took control of important areas such as Marat al-Numan, Saraqib, and the "M5" road.

Recently, Russia accused Turkey of delaying the implementation of the Sochi and Astana agreement regarding the situation in the countryside of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.

J.O