ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2020) The Turkish army neutralized another 51 Syrian servicemen in Idlib on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
On Monday, the ministry said that five Turkish soldiers had been killed and another five injured as a result of shelling at the Idlib observation post by the Syrian army. In response, according to Ankara, the Turkish Armed Forces fired at 115 targets of the Syrian army and "neutralized" 101 Syrian soldiers.
"According to latest information, another 51 personnel of the [Syrian] regime were neutralized in the Idlib zone; two tanks, one warehouse with weapons, one anti-aircraft system were destroyed. One tank was captured," the ministry said.
Tensions in Idlib, one of four de-escalation zones in Syria, intensified last week after the Turkish Defense Ministry said eight Turkish military personnel and a civilian died in a shelling by the Syrian troops on Turkey's observation post in the province. As a result, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to take retaliatory measures if Syria's armed forces failed to stop their operation in the zone and withdraw from the areas close to Turkey's observation posts by the end of February. In addition, Erdogan said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pressure the Syrian government into stopping the Idlib offensive.
