Turkey bolsters outposts in Idlib

ANKARA/MOSCOW: Turkey has sent nearly 150 vehicles with commandos and ammunition to reinforce its observation posts in Idlib, Syria’s last rebel-held region, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Friday.

A Turkish security source emphasised they were only to reinforce the 12 existing posts established under a 2018 deal with Russia to prevent an offensive by Syrian government forces.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in recent weeks as the Syrian regime, backed by Russian air strikes, presses an assault to retake Idlib.

Five Turkish soldiers and three civilians were killed earlier this week by regime shelling. Retaliatory fire by Turkey killed at least 13 Syrian troops.

Turkey says three of its outposts -- all in the southeastern part of the region -- have now been encircled by regime forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights monitor said on Wednesday that Turkish troops at another position in Saraqeb had shelled Syrian forces to prevent it also being surrounded.

The security source refused to confirm those clashes but said Turkish forces in the area "are taking every kind of measure and will take every kind of measure" to ensure safety.

He said Turkey’s priority was to stop the Syrian advance and reinstate the ceasefire, stressing that no Turkish soldiers would be evacuated.

Turkey and Russia have worked closely in recent years to resolve the situation in Idlib despite being on opposing sides of the conflict.

The Turkish source insisted that coordination with Russia remained strong and that joint patrols in northeastern Syria were only cancelled earlier this week due to "heavy weather conditions".

Meanwhile, the Russian army on Friday accused Israel of using a civilian plane carrying 172 passengers as a shield against Syrian anti-aircraft fire while carrying out air strikes near Damascus.

Israel’s air force hit targets in the capital area at dawn on Thursday sparking a Syrian riposte, Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.

"At the time of the attack by Israeli planes... an Airbus-320 airliner was on approach to landing... in the death zone of air strikes and artillery," it said.

The "quick reaction" of air traffic controllers at Damascus airport enabled the A320 to leave the zone "which was in the firing line of Syrian anti-aircraft defence systems."

The Airbus arriving from Tehran landed safely at the Hmeimim airbase operated by Russia in the Syrian coastal province of Latakia, the ministry added, without naming the airline.

"The recourse to civilian aircraft as cover or to block a riposte by Syrian forces during military air operations has become characteristic of the Israeli air force," the ministry charged.

Israeli radars have "a clear view of the situation in the skies around Damascus airport," the Russian army said, accusing Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians". Thursday’s Israeli strikes killed 23 Syrian and foreign fighters, a monitoring group said.