Turkish soldier killed on M4 highway in Syria

IDLIB, Syria – The Turkish Ministry of Defense issued a statement on Wednesday confirming the death of a Turkish soldier on the M4 highway in Idlib due to an explosion in weapons depots of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP). Earlier reports claimed the explosion was the result of an improvised explosive device (IED) specifically targeting the Turkish patrol.

In a statement, the Ministry clarified that one of the Turkish soldiers was killed on the M4 highway which links Aleppo and Hasakah governorates.

The Ministry confirmed that the soldier was injured and taken to the hospital where he died. The soldier was 250 meters away from the site of the explosion while on duty along the M4 highway.

A video circulating on social media showed the moment of the explosion, smoke billowing from a building on the M4 highway when a Turkish patrol was moving past.

Locals in the area commented that a piece of shrapnel from the explosion struck the Turkish soldier from a distance of several hundred meters. The explosion occurred at a supply deport of the Turkistan Islamic Party near the village of Al-Ghassaniyeh in the Idlib countryside.

The incident occurred two days after the M4 highway was re-opened between the town of Tal Tamr and the rest of the western regions where the Russian-Turkish patrols have been intensified to prevent any violations that might threaten the truce between the two sides.