Turkish army hit 21 regime targets in retaliation to soldier death

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A Turkish soldier was killed on Saturday in an attack by Syrian regime forces in the northern Idlib region, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

Turkey retaliated to the attack with full force and 21 regime targets were heavily hit and destroyed, said the ministry in a series of tweets.

"The blood of our martyrs has never gone to waste and it never will. We wish Allah's mercy and grace for our hero soldier. We convey our deepest condolences to the family of the martyr and to the Turkish Armed Forces and our noble nation," the Defense Ministry said, according to the Anadolu Agency.

At least 16 Turkish soldiers have been killed in northern Syria this month amid a crushing offensive by Bashar Assad's forces aimed at recapturing remaining opposition-held areas in the region.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has discussed the situation in Idlib with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday.

"During the telephone conversation they discussed issues of stabilization of the situation in Idlib de-escalation zone," Interfax agency reported, citing a statement from the Defense Ministry.

Turkey, which currently hosts 3.7 million Syrian refugees, has said it cannot handle a new influx and has warned that it will use military power to repel Syrian advances in Idlib and ease a humanitarian crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would not withdraw from Idlib. He also called for "concrete action" to prevent a crisis in Syria's last rebel stronghold in a phone call with his French and German counterparts, his office said.

Meanwhile, The Turkish army has sent more reinforcements to Idlib, consisting advanced tanks and armored vehicles.

At least 20 Syrian regime soldiers were killed on Friday in a missile attack by the Turkey-backed forces in northern Idlib province, rebel commander told Zaman al-Wasl.

Captain Naji Mustafa, spokesman for the National Liberation Front, said the key National Army unit had destroyed a regime outpost and military task command in the town of Maarret al-Numan south of Idlib city. The armed faction also hit the Syrian regime forces with heavy artillery fire, he added.

On Thursday, the Turkish-backed National Army shelled regime forces and entered the village of Nairab, near the strategic town of Saraqeb, both of which were held by regime troops.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Thursday that as many as 53 Syrian regime soldiers were killed and that five tanks, two armored personnel carriers and other equipment were destroyed.

The Russian military said the militants' actions "were supported by Turkish artillery fire," which allowed them to break through the regime army's defenses. Four Syrian soldiers were wounded in the Turkish shelling, it said.

It was not immediately clear whether it was the Russian airstrikes that killed the two Turkish soldiers and injured five others.

The assault has allowed the regime to reclaim swathes of territory in the south of Idlib province and in neighbouring Aleppo province.

The United Nations warned Friday that fighting in northwest Syria could "end in a bloodbath" and called again for a ceasefire, while Moscow denied reports of a mass flight of civilians from a Russian-led Syrian regime offensive.

Syrian troops backed by Russian air power have been battling since December to eliminate the last rebel strongholds in the region in a war that has killed an estimated 400,000 Syrians, displaced millions more and left much of the country in ruins.

The latest offensive in the regions of Aleppo and Idlib has uprooted nearly 1 million people - most of them women and children - who have fled clashes to seek sanctuary further north, near the Turkish border.

The U.N.'s humanitarian agency OCHA said 60 percent of the 900,000 people trapped in a shrinking space after fleeing are children.

"We call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further suffering and what we fear may end in a bloodbath," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told a news briefing in Geneva.

"The front lines and relentless violence continue to move closer to these areas which are packed with displaced people, with bombardments increasingly affecting displacement sites and their vicinity."

Zaman Al Wasl