At least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Syria’s Idlib on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory, a war monitor, reported, according to Reuters.
Turkey has sent thousands of troops and heavy military hardware into northwest Syria’s Idlib province to back rebels looking to hold back an offensive by Syrian government and Russian forces aimed at taking back the rebel stronghold.
According to the governor’s office of the border Hatay province, 29 soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded.
After an hours-long high level security meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has decided to respond to the Syrian government attack.
Some reports suggested that the airspace over Idlib is controlled by Russian military personnel who refused to allow Turkish convoys help the wounded soldiers.