Calm in Syria’s Idlib after Russia-Turkey ceasefire deal

MOSCOW - The ceasefire in Syria's Idlib that was agreed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is being observed and the situation on the ground is calm, Russia's RIA news agency cited a military source as saying on Friday.

Putin and Erdogan held lengthy talks in Moscow on Thursday and said they had agreed a ceasefire deal in the region to contain a conflict which has displaced nearly a million people in three months.

But Turkey staged an attack with a combat drone against Syrian government forces in Syria's Idlib on Thursday before a ceasefire went into effect, destroying military equipment and "neutralising" soldiers, the Turkish defence ministry said.

The Turkish ministry said early on Friday the drone attack destroyed two pieces of artillery, two multiple-rocket launchers and "neutralised" 21 Syrian government soldiers, a term commonly used to mean killed.

It said the attack followed an attack on Turkish forces.

On Thursday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and three were wounded when Syrian government forces opened fire on them in Idlib, the defence ministry said earlier.