Tensions on the key M4 highway in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib have climbed to new levels, creating dilemmas for both the jihadis dominating the region and Turkish forces seeking to reopen the road under a deal with Russia. 

Efforts to reopen the M4 — a key requirement of the deal that Turkey and Russia sealed March 5 in Moscow — led to deadly unrest April 26 as Turkish forces took on a crowd that barricaded the highway outside a village near al-Nayrab. In the wake of the killing of two Turkish soldiers in a March 19 attack in the area, the Turkish forces opened fire on the crowd, which pelted the soldiers with stones after an initial attempt to disperse it with tear gas. Two people were killed and several wounded in the confrontation, which was followed by a mortar attack on a Turkish outpost in al-Nayrab that left several soldiers injured. In response, Turkish drones hit two emplacements of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the radical group dominating Idlib, and a vehicle. HTS lost two men. 

The Moscow deal calls for joint Turkish-Russian patrols along M4. Since March 15, five attempts to conduct them have failed. 

Following the latest flare-up, Turkish military and intelligence officials met with a HTS delegation in a bid to defuse the tensions and talk the group into a peaceful reopening of the M4. The delegation was reportedly told that attempts to block the road would play into the hands of the regime and that continued tensions would raise the risk of territorial losses for rebel groups in the region. The Turkish military reinforced its observation posts and airdropped leaflets to residents, in which it described its goal as preventing military action in Idlib, facilitating the return of displaced civilians and reviving economic activity by reopening the M4 and M5 highways. “Do not believe … those who want to deceive you and spread sedition among brothers,” the text read.