[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Two Turkish soldiers were killed in a bomb attack targeting a Turkish military convoy in the rebel-held area of northwestern Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on the 16th, on the night of the 15th (local time), an improvised explosive device detonated at the Marat Masrin crossroads in Idlib province, northwestern Syria, killing two soldiers riding in a Turkish military convoy and injuring four others. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a Syrian civil war monitoring organization headquartered in London, UK.
Sputnik News also cited local sources reporting that a Turkish military convoy was attacked in the area, resulting in two deaths and five injuries. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack occurred just hours after the Islamic extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced the arrest of a member of its affiliated faction. HTS is the successor to Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch and is a coalition of Islamic extremist groups, representing the largest rebel force in the northwest.
The Idlib region has been considered the last stronghold of the rebels opposing the government forces led by President Bashar al-Assad since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. President al-Assad was once on the brink of being ousted due to rebel attacks. However, after Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015 to support government forces, the tide of the war turned in favor of the government.
The rebels resisted attacks from Russian and government forces with support from Turkey. Currently, they are isolated in the northwestern border areas near Turkey, including Idlib.
Turkey has criticized the Assad regime’s oppression and supported the rebels. However, it has stated that it will not cooperate with Islamic extremist factions within the rebel groups.
The government forces and rebels agreed to a ceasefire in March last year through mediation by Russia and Turkey. Nevertheless, sporadic clashes and terrorist attacks continue in the Idlib area.
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