Syria targets Turkish military convoy with artillery fire

Media reports have surfaced suggesting the Syrian army has targeted a Turkish military convoy traveling in the Arab country’s northwest with artillery fire.

The sources, including Russia Today Arabic, reported the incident on Tuesday.

One said the convoy, which comprised around 100 military vehicles, including 15 tanks, was heading towards the al-Eis area in the southern suburbs of the city of Aleppo to set up positions there.

The area overlooks the Syrian army’s positions in the strategic al-Hadher area, lending intelligence superiority to any party in its control.

RT Arabic said the convoy came under more than 30 mortar rounds.

The report said the attack took place after the convoy entered the Syrian soil, adding that two Turkish F-16 warplanes began flying over the area following the incident.

Al Mayadeen also reported that the Turkish convoy started returning the fire after deployment close to al-Eis.

Neither Syrian nor Turkish officials have made any comments on the reports yet.

Turkey started military attacks in northern Syria in 2016, targeting the United States-backed Kurdish militants of the People’s Protection Units (YPG). It associates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting a separatist war against Ankara for decades.

The operation ended last year. The country, however, renewed the offensive last week after the US said it planned to establish a 30,000-strong armed presence in Syria near the Turkish border, comprising the so-called Syrian Defense Force (SDF), which is led by the YPG.

Syria views both the Turkish and American activities on its soil as invasive, and has warned that it could target the intruders.

Separately, it was reported that Turkey had again bombed the PKK militants’ positions in northern Iraq’s mountainous areas.

It renewed such airstrikes in 2015, when a ceasefire fell apart between Ankara and the militants.

Also on Tuesday, protesters in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region’s city of Sulaymaniyah held a protest against the ongoing Turkish invasion.