Loses of the Turkish military in Idlib

1 Syria

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.

2 Syria

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Turkish troops, that were under the fire of the Syrian troops on 27th of February, near the settlement of Behun, were among the attacking terrorists. The ‘Khayyat Tahrir al-Sham’, one of the names for the ‘Jebhat al-Nusra’ terrorist group, was in the Idlib de-escalation zone. They tried to launch an offensive, on a broad frontline, on the positions of the Syrian government forces. The Russian Defense Ministry underlined that during that day — the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties constantly requested and confirmed «from the Turkish colleagues the coordinates of the location of all units of the Turkish Armed Forces, located near the areas of the terrorist operations». According to the received information — the Turkish troops near the settlement of Behun «shouldn’t have even been there in the first place.» The Center added that immediately after receiving the information about the injured Turkish military — Russia took «measures for a complete ceasefire by the Syrian troops.» A safe evacuation of the dead and wounded Turkish troops to the territory of Turkey provided as well. The Russian Ministry of Defense underlined that the Russian Air Force did not make airstrikes near the Syrian settlement of Behun, where the Turkish soldiers died.

3 Syria

«The Turkish Air Force and artillery hit more than 200 Syrian army targets in Idlib» — the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Friday. His words were quoted by the ‘NTV’. Hulusi Akar added that 23 artillery pieces and 2 air defense systems were also destroyed. The Turkish Minister noted that «309 servicemen of the Syrian army were neutralized», and the attacks of the Turkish armed forces in Idlib «continue according to the plan.»

4 Syria

On Friday night, the terrorists of ‘Jebhat al-Nusra’ bombarded the Syrian port city of Latakia. The ‘SANA’ news agency reported that the terrorists used MLRS located near the village of Bdam, in the neighboring province of Idlib. According to the preliminary data — there were no casualties among the civilians. Only material damage was done. The shelling of Latakia took place during the battles in the south of the province of Idlib, between the government forces and the terrorists.

5 Israel — Syria

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.