1 Turkish Soldier Killed in Explosion along Syria’s M4 Highway

Turkish and Russian military vehicles take part in a joint patrol in the northern Idlib province, Syria, April 15, 2020. (Reuters)
Turkish and Russian military vehicles take part in a joint patrol in the northern Idlib province, Syria, April 15, 2020. (Reuters)
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1 Turkish Soldier Killed in Explosion along Syria’s M4 Highway

Turkish and Russian military vehicles take part in a joint patrol in the northern Idlib province, Syria, April 15, 2020. (Reuters)
Turkish and Russian military vehicles take part in a joint patrol in the northern Idlib province, Syria, April 15, 2020. (Reuters)

One Turkish soldier has died from an explosion along the M4 highway in Syria’s Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the country.

In a statement Wednesday, the Turkish defense ministry said the soldier was wounded in an explosion and died later in a hospital. It said the explosion took place in an area about 250 meters (820 feet) south of a road patrolled by Turkish forces.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.

Video footage posted online showed smoke billowing from a building along the M4 highway before a large explosion along the road where the patrol was taking place.

Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria’s war, agreed on a ceasefire on March 5 following weeks of clashes that brought them to the brink of direct confrontation. Ankara backs opposition factions fighting against Bashar Assad’s regime, and Moscow supports Damascus.

Fighting in Idlib, which escalated starting in December, has displaced nearly a million people and raised concerns of a fresh wave of migrants towards Turkey, which currently hosts nearly 4 million refugees.

Since the deal, Turkey and Russia have conducted 12 patrols along the M4, some of which were cut short due to security concerns, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month accused Assad’s forces of violating the ceasefire, warning that they would suffer “heavy losses” if it persisted. He added that Ankara would not allow any “dark groups” in the region to violate the ceasefire either.

At least 66 Turkish soldiers have been killed in Idlib this year.



Sudan’s RSF Kill More Than 30 in a New Attack on a Darfur City, Activists Say 

People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Sudan’s RSF Kill More Than 30 in a New Attack on a Darfur City, Activists Say 

People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a city in the western Darfur region, killing more than 30 people, an activist group said, in the latest deadly offensive on an area that is home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

The RSF and allied militias launched an offensive on el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, on Sunday, according to the Resistance Committees, an activist group. Dozens of other people were wounded in the attack, said the group, which tracks the war.

The RSF renewed its attack on Monday, shelling residential buildings and open markets in the city, the group said. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

El-Fasher, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, is under the control of the military, which has fought the RSF since Sudan descended into civil war more than two years ago, killing more than 24,000 people, according to the United Nations, though activists say the number is likely far higher.

The RSF has been attempting to seize el-Fasher for a year to complete its control of the entire Darfur region. Since then, it has launched many attacks on the city and two major famine-hit camps for displaced people on its outskirts.

The city is now estimated to be home to more than 1 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the ongoing war and previous bouts of violence in Darfur.

The attacks on el-Fasher have intensified in recent months as the RSF suffered battlefield setbacks in Khartoum and other urban areas in the county’s east and center.

Sunday’s violence came less than a week after a two-day attack by the RSF and its allied militias on the city and the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps killed more than 400 people, according to the United Nations.

Last week’s attack forced up to 400,000 people to flee the Zamzam camp, Sudan’s largest, which has become inaccessible to aid workers, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.