Escalation between Turkey and Syria after Turkish soldiers killed
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Dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in an airstrike in Syria’s Idlib province, in a dramatic escalation in the battle for control of the country’s last opposition stronghold.
Turkish officials said at least 33 of its military personnel were killed in the attack on Thursday night. Military sources among moderate and jihadist rebel factions fighting in the north-western province bordering Turkey said the deaths followed a precision strike on a two-storey building in the village of Balioun.
Turkish officials have blamed the Syrian regime for the attack, but several sources in Idlib and unverified footage of the nighttime strike suggested it had been carried out by the Russian air force, which has helped Damascus conduct a ferocious three-month-old offensive on Idlib.
NATO condemned the attack, describing it as “indiscriminate.” The UN said it is “gravely concerned.” The United Nations Secretary-General Guterres said he’s “gravely concerned” by the escalation in Syria. The UN chief added that the risk of the conflict worsening “grows by the hour” without urgent action.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire and expresses particular concern about the risk to civilians from escalating military actions,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The US State Department has expressed its alarm at the escalating developments in Idlib while coming out in support of Turkey, and citing Iran as partly responsible.
“We stand by our NATO ally Turkey and continue to call for an immediate end to this despicable offensive by the Assad regime, Russia, and Iranian-backed forces,” a State Department representative said in a statement. “We are looking at options on how we can best support Turkey in this crisis.”
Turkey responded with airstrikes on “all known” Syrian government targets, said the country’s communications director Fahrettin Altun early on Friday, according to state-run Anadolu news agency. Altun said authorities had decided to “respond in kind” to the attack.
