Turkey says two soldiers killed in Idlib

ANKARA: Two Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian government forces in the northwestern region of Idlib, Turkey’s defence ministry said yesterday.

Six others were wounded in the shelling, it said, adding that Turkish forces “immediately” retaliated against regime targets.

More than 50 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the rebel-held region in recent weeks, including 34 who died in an air strike on Thursday.

Turkey officially declared an operation against the Russian-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend, named “Spring Shield”.

It has since downed three Syrian warplanes, and killed dozens of regime and allied fighters, according to war monitors.

Turkey, which backs certain rebel groups in Idlib, has sought to push back Syrian forces behind lines agreed under a 2018 deal with Russia, which established 12 Turkish observation posts in the province.

But Syrian forces, supported by Russian air power, has retaken swathes of territory since launching its offensive in December, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing nearly a million to flee their homes.

Meanwhile in Moscow, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said yesterday that fortified rebel positions in Syria’s Idlib province had merged with Turkish observation posts, and that artillery attacks on nearby civilian areas and Russia’s air base in Syria had become daily.

The allegations, made by MajorGeneral Igor Konashenkov, are likely to increase tensions ahead of a planned meeting on Syria in Moscow today between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan.

Maj Gen Konashenkov, in his statement, accused Turkey of failing to meet its obligations under agreements on Idlib with Moscow, and of helping antiAssad rebel forces instead.

He said Turkey had poured enough troops into Idlib to make up a mechanised division, thus violating international law.