Airstrike kills 29 Turkish soldiers in northeast Syria
29 February, 2020
An airstrike by Syrian government forces killed 29 Turkish soldiers in northeast Syria, a Turkish official said Friday, marking the major death toll for Turkey in one day because it first intervened in Syria in 2016.
The deaths were a significant increase in the direct conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces that is waged since early February.
Rahmi Dogan, the governor of Turkey’s Hatay Province bordering Syria’s Idlib region, said 29 troops were killed and others were seriously wounded in the attack late Thursday. He said 39 injured were being treated in Turkish hospitals.
Three Turkish soldiers were killed earlier Thursday in Idlib. At least 50 have been killed in Idlib since the start of February.
The U.N. secretary general reiterated his demand an instantaneous ceasefire and expressed serious concern about the chance to civilians from escalating military actions,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“Without urgent action, the chance of sustained escalation grows per hour,” Dujarric said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding a crisis security meeting in Ankara, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by telephone.
Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, who plays a senior role in foreign affairs, also spoke to U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
The airstrike came after a Russian delegation spent two days in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials on the problem in Idlib, in which a Syrian government offensive has sent hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing towards the Turkish border.
The offensive in addition has engulfed lots of the 12 military observation posts Turkey has in Idlib.
Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan’s communications director, said “all known” Syrian government targets were under attack by Turkish air and land forces in response to the deaths.
Source: the-japan-news.com