In response to the death of several of its soldiers in a Syrian bombardment, Turkey in turn bombarded the positions of the Damascus regime in the province of Idleb, in north-west Syria.
"According to our sources, 101 members of the regime have been neutralized, three tanks and two cannons have been destroyed and a helicopter has been hit," the Turkish Defense Ministry said in an evening statement while the bombing continued. Figures that cannot be independently confirmed immediately.
Earlier, five Turkish soldiers had been killed and five injured in a bombing by the Damascus regime on Ankara positions in Idleb province.
Last week, eight Turkish soldiers had already been killed in a bombardment of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in this province, last bastion of the Syrian opposition dominated by jihadist groups. Thursday, 17 civilians - including children - were killed.
Fear of a new escalation
On Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry warned that Ankara would respond "in the strongest possible way" to any new attack. These exchanges of artillery fire risk provoking a new escalation between Turkey and the Syrian regime, which is supported by Russia.
Turkey, which supports certain rebel groups in Syria, has deployed significant reinforcements to this province in recent days in an attempt to halt the progress of the regime which has been working hard since December.
After an exchange of fire last week, President Erdogan had ordered Syria to back off into Idleb province, and asked Moscow to do more to control the regime's forces.
Ankara and Moscow: a paradoxical cooperation
Even though they support opposing camps in Syria, Turkey and Russia have strengthened their cooperation on this issue, for example by sponsoring a ceasefire agreement at a summit in Sochi in 2018.
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The regime's new attack also took place while a Russian delegation was in Ankara for talks aimed at finding a solution in Idleb.
Ankara fears that a large-scale offensive will trigger a new wave of migration to Turkey, a country where more than 3.5 million Syrians have already found refuge since the conflict began in 2011.
