Three Russian and several Turkish soldiers were wounded Tuesday in Syria's restive Idlib province when a joint military patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device, Russia's defense ministry said.

Russia and Turkey launched the patrols along the M4 highway in March following a cease-fire agreement aimed at stopping heavy fighting in and around Idlib, the last major bastion of antigovernment forces in Syria's civil war.

The device blew up at 8:50 local time (0550 GMT) as their convoy patrolled the M4 in the southern part of a deescalation zone, a statement said.

AFP