ISTANBUL (Agencies): Five Turkish soldiers were killed and five others wounded when Assad regime forces hit a Turkish observation point at eastern Idlib’s Taftanaz Airport with heavy artillery, the Defense Ministry said Monday.
According to the ministry’s statement, Turkish forces were retaliating after the strike at the airport.
Last week, an Assad regime attack in Idlib killed seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian contractor working with the Turkish military and injured over a dozen people.
In retaliation, Turkey struck over 50 targets and killed 76 Syrian soldiers.
Idlib has been a stronghold of opposition and anti-government armed groups since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
But more than 1,800 civilians there have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces since then, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12
More than 1.7 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the past year.
Turkey remains the country with the most refugees in the world, hosting more than 3.7 million Syrians since the start of the Syrian civil war.
