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Syria
Residents watch as a Turkish military convoy passes through the Syrian rebel-held town of Hazano in Idlib's northern countryside on February 22, 2020. Photo: Aaref Watad / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey made new military deployments to the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on Monday as clashes intensify between conflicting parties in the region, according to a war monitor which also reported fresh military deployments to the province by Ankara.
Turkey has set up four new observation posts in Idlib province in addition to the current 12 in the area, according to the British-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
“Reliable source informed SOHR that Turkish forces set up four new military posts in Idlib province, in Ehsim, Kansafrah, and between Kansafrah and Al-Bara and near Bssamis, all located in southern countryside of Idlib,” SOHR reported.
Ankara and Damascus relations have been thorny since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with Turkey accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of suppressing his own people. Idlib has seen a fresh wave of violence since December 1, when Assad launched a fierce campaign to reclaim territory in the northwest previously held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadists (HTS) and Turkish-backed groups.
Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told CNN late on Monday that the conflict in Idlib has entered a “very critical stage,” adding that that the Turkish presence on the ground remains “strong.”
Turkey has increased its presence in northwest Syria after more than a dozen of its soldiers were killed by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and allied groups in early February, pushing Ankara to deploy more than 3,000 armored vehicles and some 7,600 soldiers to Idlib and the neighbouring province of Aleppo, SOHR added.
North Press Agency (NPA), a media outlet with close ties to the Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria also reported the new Turkish observation posts.
Turkish media reported the deployment of a 50-vehicle Turkish convoy to Idlib on Monday, accompanied by members of pro-Turkey groups.
Several Turkish outposts are now surrounded by regime forces - which has prompted threats from Ankara of a new offensive if Damascus does not withdraw by the end of the month.
Damascus has made huge gains in its recent attacks against HTS and Turkish-backed groups, recapturing some 111 villages and towns - according to SOHR. They have also regained control of the M5 highway – a crucial route linking the capital city of Damascus to Aleppo.
The latest regime gains have worried Turkey, which carried out new ground attacks on Monday targeting the regime-held town of Nayrab in eastern Idlib.
Pro-Turkish groups now claim to have regained control of the town, SOHR reported on Monday evening.
Updated 10:38pm
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