Militants shell city in Latakia, one Syrian killed

TASS, May 2:  Militants from extremist groups shelled the outskirts of the Jebla city in Syria’s Latakia province on Thursday, the SANA news agency reported.

One Syrian was killed and four others were wounded when a mortar shell exploded near Bakhdarma.

The shelling from multiple rocket launcher systems was carried out by armed groups based in the area close to Turkey in the de-escalation zone in the northwest of the Idlib province.

According to the report, the Syrian forces returned fire against the enemy, which had violated the truce, destroying several launchers. "The militants sustained losses."

This week the armed groups have shelled peaceful settlements protected by the government army in northwestern Syria several times.

Terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra (outlawed in Russia) entered Syria via the Turkish border and have been seizing several settlements in the mountainous areas to the north and northeast of Latakia since 2014.

Militants of the Turkistan Islamic Party consisting of Uyghur mercenaries (Turkic people who live in the Xinjiang autonomous region in northwest China) and a number of other extremist groups are fighting alongside with the Jabhat al-Nusra group. SANA reports that Turkish authorities are providing military and logistical and financial support to the mercenaries.