Fierce battles for Idlib

The ‘Al-Masdar’ news website reported that after fierce battles with the armed opposition — the Syrian troops were forced to tactically retreat from the city of Neyrab, in the province of Idlib. The terrorists attacked the defensive lines of the government forces 3 times with the support of the Turkish artillery and tanks. The Syrian troops killed more than 150 terrorists. The news agency ‘Anadolu’ recently reported on the capture of Neyrab, which is located west of Sarakib. According to the ‘Anadolu’ — the opposition forces have complete control over the city. The Syrian military command has yet to confirm the reports of the loss of the city of Neyrab.

33 Turkish soldiers died in the Syrian province of Idlib after a shelling — the governor of the border province of Hatay, Rahmi Dogan, reports. His words were quoted by the ‘TRT’ TV. Omer Celik, the spokesman for the ‘Justice and Development Party’, led by the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that Turkey had decided to consider the Syrian forces to be enemy targets after the Turkish military came under fire in Idlib once again. The newspaper ‘Sabah’ quoted his words. Omer Chelik added that «Turkey’s migration policy remains unchanged. However, Ankara is no longer able to restrain the flow of the Syrian refugees into Europe». The US State Department expressed a concern about the attack on the Turkish troops in Syria, and is calling for an immediate halt to the attack of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We are on the side of our NATO ally, Turkey” — the State Department concluded.

Reporters of ANNA NEWS report — the Syrian army liberated the city of Kafr Awaid, located in the south of Idlib. Over the past day, the 25th division went from Kafr Nabeul to the western direction for more than 15 kilometers. The strategic height of Klekel was captured. The ‘SANA’ news agency reports that the government forces liberated 15 villages near Kafr Awaid within 24 hours, after defeating the terrorists from ‘Jebhat al-Nusra’. The Syrian troops started clearing the residential areas, and demining the streets.

The SANA agency reported that the Israeli Air Force helicopters carried out missile attacks on the positions of the Syrian army in the province of Al Quneitra. According to the ‘SANA’ — as a result of the attack — 3 soldiers were injured in Al-Kahtania, Al-Khuria, and in the administrative center of Al-Quneitra, 40 km away from Damascus. The SANA reports that the attack was carried out from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli Air Force combat drone attacked a car at the south of the city of Khodr, in the province of Al Quneitra. According to the SANA, a Syrian citizen who was driving the car was killed.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced, while speaking to the parliamentary faction of the ruling »Justice and Development Party» that if the Syrian forces won’t back down from the Turkish observation posts in Idlib by the end of February — Turkey intends to push them back. “According to the Sochi memorandum — the forces of the Syrian regime should move to the borders outside our observation posts. If those forces won’t retreat — we will liberate this territory” — Erdogan explained. The Turkish President confirmed that Ankara sent a request to the USA for the supply of the ‘Patriot’ air defense systems. There is still no answer from Washington.

The IDF press service reported that the Israeli air defense system ‘Iron Dome’ intercepted 12 out of 14 missiles that were launched on Monday, by the Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip, at Israel. It was also reported that in response to the launches made from the Gaza Strip — the Israeli military attacked the positions of the radical Palestinian group ‘Islamic Jihad’. Earlier, the IDF press service reported that on Monday night, «the Israeli Air Force attacked the terrorist targets located south from Damascus, as well as dozens of ‘Islamic Jihad’ targets all over the Gaza Strip». The ‘SANA’ news agency reported that the Syrian air defense forces repelled a missile attack on Damascus. Most missiles were shot down before they reached their targets. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.