The rebels fired artillery shells on Saraqeb in Idlib province and Harab al-Sheikh in Latakia province, said Tass on Wednesday, citing Oleg Zhuravlev, chief of the Russian military’s centre for the reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria.

Zhuravlev blamed the armed groups Jabhat al-Nusra and the Turkistan Islamic Party for the attacks. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Zhuravlev also said that Russian and Turkish forces had conducted their second joint patrol mission along the M4 east-west highway in Syria. The joint patrol is part of a ceasefire agreement made on March 5 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to end the fighting in the northwest Idlib province between Turkish-backed forces and the Syrian military, which is backed by Russia.

Russian and Turkish forces also conducted joint patrols in the Aleppo region, said Zhuravlev.

Over the past three months, Turkey has deployed military force to try to halt the Syrian army's advance on the last rebel-held province of Idlib that has displaced around 1 million people.

Turkey launched a counter-offensive - Operation Spring Shield - on March 1 after at least 36 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike at the end of February that has been attributed to Russian planes backing Syrian forces.

Reporter’s code: 50101