DAMASCUS: At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Syrian government forces in northwestern Idlib province
Turkey has vowed “to respond in kind” with attacks on “all” their positions.
The rapid escalation of the conflict on Friday also threatened another refugee crisis as media reports cited Turkish officials as saying they “opened the gates” for Syrian refugees to transit unimpeded to Europe.
Russia, meanwhile, said Ankara failed to inform it that Turkish troops were fighting alongside rebels in Idlib – comments denied by Turkey.
“Turkish soldiers who were in the battle formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Russian state television reported Turkish military specialists were using shoulder-fired missiles to try to shoot down Russian and Syrian military aircraft over Idlib.
The deaths were the largest number of fatalities suffered by Turkey in a single day since it first intervened in Syria in 2016. In response, Turkey warned it will attack “all known targets of the Syrian regime”.
“The Assad regime represents a threat to our national security, the region and Europe since it began acting like a criminal network terrorising its own citizens,” Fahrettin Altun, the head of Turkey’s presidential communications department, said to an international media outlet.
“The regime has taken advantage of the international silence in the face of its crimes for years.”
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