SOHR: Two Turkish soldiers killed in Syria’s Idlib
A little-known armed group, Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported late Friday that two Turkish soldiers were killed and four others were injured when a roadside bomb targeted their convoy on the Idlib-Bab al-Hawa road.
The so-called Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, a little-known group of militants with unclear affiliation, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to local reports.
This is not the first time attacks target Turkish forces in northwestern Syria.
Last week, two Turkish officers were killed in a guided rocket attack in northern Aleppo. After, Turkish government officials claimed they might attack the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions, blaming them for the incident.
The US-backed forces have denied being involved in recent border incidents in Turkish-controlled territories. However, it has promised to take back areas like Afrin from Turkish-backed fighters.
On September 11, at least two Turkish soldiers were killed and three others injured in an attack in northwestern Syria, reported pro-Turkish government media.
The Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, an unknown group created one year ago, claimed the Friday attack, said SOHR. The group carried out its first attack on Turkish forces at the end of August 2020.
According to the SOHR report this Thursday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on, a group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, arrested an explosive expert of the group, who was responsible for targeting Turkish forces in Idlib.
Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey launched three military operations in the northern Aleppo countryside, Afrin, and northern Hasakah province, aiming to prevent the emergence of a Kurdish autonomous region along its border.
Since then, Ankara and militant groups it backs have been occupied a large pocket of land in northwest Syria. They have also deployed troops in Idlib with the approval of Russia and Iran since 2017 as part of a deconfliction mechanism.
Source: Kurdistan24