Syria Attacked a Turkish Convoy

The Syrian military attacked a Turkish military convoy in the Idlib province of Syria. Turkey said that three civilians were killed in the airstrike.

Turkey is now understandably upset with the attack. The Syrian government said that Turkey was shipping arms to the anti-government rebels. The Syrian military, with the backing of Russia, is currently trying to defeat the rebel factions in Idlib. Turkey thought that they were within their rights under agreements with Russia and Iran signed in Sochi and Astana. And nobody believes that Syria carried out the airstrike without the permission of the Russians.

These are the same Russians that recently sold their S400 anti-aircraft system to Turkey souring Turkey's relationship with the United States and putting their status as a member of NATO on shaky ground. Meanwhile, The U. S. and Turkey are in the process of setting up a safe zone in northern Syria east of the Euphrates. Iran calls the safe zone "provocative." Turkey's Russian and Iranian partners in Syria don't seem to want them there anymore.

This from Al-Monitor:

Three civilians died and 12 others were injured when Syrian air force jets struck a Turkish military convoy today in Syria’s Idlib province, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement today. 

The convoy was headed toward Turkish observation post number nine in Morek, the buffer zone it mans in the rebel-held province. Turkey has 12 such posts under the terms of the Sochi agreement struck with Moscow in September 2018 to dislodge the rebels and their weapons from the demarcated zone. Turkey did not provide any details about the identity of the victims. Rebel sources said one commander from the Sunni Islamist alliance Faylaq al-Sham was killed, while two other of the group's commanders were injured. Neither claim could be independently verified.

The Syrian Arab Army has been trying to wrest back Idlib in a new and concerted push launched in May, putting Turkish forces at risk, displacing thousands of civilians and wounding and killing hundreds of others. Idlib borders Turkey and is largely controlled by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

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