attack on Turkish troops in Syria kills two soldiers | news from syria



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Three other soldiers were injured in an attack targeting Turkish forces in Idlib province.

An attack on Turkish troops in Idlib province in northwestern Syria killed two soldiers and injured three others, according to the Turkish defense ministry.

Saturday’s assault occurred following a search and trace operation in the Idlib de-escalation zone, the ministry said in a statement. He identified the dead soldiers as infantry non-commissioned officers.

Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria’s civil war, and parts of it are patrolled by Turkish and Russian troops.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said a roadside bomb attack on a Turkish convoy occurred on the road between the town of Idlib and Binnish. He said the wounded soldiers were evacuated to Turkey by helicopter.

SOHR said the attack was claimed by a group known as the Supporters of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Company, which claimed responsibility for previous attacks on Turkish forces.

Akar at the border

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar then traveled to the Syrian border to meet with military commanders.

Northwestern Syria has seen sporadic military activity since a ceasefire was negotiated there in March 2020 by Turkey and Russia, which support parties opposed to the civil war in Syria. The deal ended an overwhelming Russian-backed government offensive in Idlib province.

The Syrian government, which accepted the truce negotiated between Russia and Turkey, has promised to regain control of the territory it lost during the 10 years of conflict.

Northwestern Syria is home to some four million people, many of whom are displaced by the civil war that killed half a million people and displaced half of the country’s 23 million people before the war, including more than five million refugees outside the country.

In February last year, at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike in Idlib, prompting massive Turkish retaliation against pro-government forces.



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