Turkish soldier killed in Syria’s Idlib: army

Istanbul, Feb 6 (AFP) A Turkish soldier was killed and six people wounded in rocket and mortar attacks on the Turkish military in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the army said today.A convoy o

Istanbul, Feb 6 (AFP) A Turkish soldier was killed and six people wounded in rocket and mortar attacks on the Turkish military in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, the army said today.

A convoy of Turkish troops entered Idlib Monday to set up a new “observation point” aimed at reducing violence under a deal with Russia.

Rocket and mortar fire Monday by “terrorist organisations” killed one soldier and wounded five others as well as one civilian who was working with the military, the army said in a statement.

It said the injured were not in critical condition.

The military responded “immediately on members of the terror group,” the statement said, but gave no further details.

“The observation point” was the fourth such position within Idlib province set up by the Turkish army in line with peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Those talks — sponsored by Turkey, Iran and Russia — set out the creation of four so-called de-escalation zones in Idlib, the greater Damascus area, the southern region of Daraa and the city of Homs.

Idlib is largely 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.(AFP) AMS

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.