Turkey troops, Syria jihadists clash ahead of expected incursion
8 Oct 2017 4:46 PM GMT
Reyhanli: Turkish troops on Sunday exchanged fire with Syria-based jihadists as Ankara massed military vehicles on the frontier ahead of an expected operation to oust Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate from Idlib province.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday announced the launch of an operation by pro-Ankara Syrian rebel forces, backed by the Turkish army, to reimpose security in Idlib. Most of the northwestern region is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, which ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
Turkey has massed special forces and military hardware including tanks on the border but the operation has yet to begin in earnest, monitors and sources on the ground said. But Turkish forces fired seven mortars over the border with the aim of easing the passage of the pro-Ankara Syrian forces, the Dogan news agency reported. Turkish forces have also been seen removing parts of the security wall Ankara has built on the border so that military vehicles can pass through into Syria.
Pro-government media said that the operation was now into its "second day" and it was not immediately clear what the Turkish military's next move would be. HTS jihadists this morning opened fire on Turkish forces removing part of a wall along the border between Turkey and Idlib, witnesses and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
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