Editor’s note: The supposed ceasefire established by the Putin-Erdogan Sochi agreement is tenuous or in some places not existing at all. The Turks and the ex-rebels in their pay are held back as much by the Syrian army as by the Putin-Erodgan deal.
At least six Syrian regime fighters were killed as heavy clashes broke out Tuesday between the army and Turkish forces for the first time since Ankara attacked northeastern Syria three weeks ago, a war monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said artillery and machine-gun fire was exchanged near Assadiya, south of the border town of Ras al-Ain.
“Heavy fighting erupted for the first time between the Syrian and Turkish armies,” the Britain-based monitoring group said.
The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies attacked Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9 with the aim of creating a roughly 30-kilometre (20-mile) deep buffer zone.
“Turkish artillery fire killed five regime forces in battles on the edge of the village of Assadiya,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory, told AFP.
He added that the pro-Ankara fighters being used by Turkey as the main ground force for the invasion executed a government soldier they had captured.
Kurdish forces earlier this month agreed to withdraw from a 120-kilometre (75 mile) long, Arab-majority segment of the 440-kilometre (275-mile) border zone, although clashes have been reported since.
Turkey subsequently reached a deal with the Syrian government’s main backer Russia for Kurdish forces to pull back from the entire border area.
Left in the lurch by a US troop withdrawal from the border area, Kurdish forces turned to the government for protection.
Damascus forces rushed north and are now expected to deploy along much of the border zone but a 10-kilometre-deep strip was to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops, starting from Tuesday.
Source: AFP
The Turkish military and their allied militants allegedly captured 14 soldiers of the Syrian army in the northeastern part of the country, the Al-Arabiya TV channel informed, citing Kurdish sources.
“The Turkish army and the formations loyal to it have captured 14 soldiers of the Syrian army in the Tell Tamer settlement,” the TV channel noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sky News Arabia TV channel informed of clashes between Syrian and Turkish units.
Source: Al Masdar
[…] of the 440-kilometre (275-mile) border zone, although clashes have been reported since.more: https://anti-empire.com/heavy-clashes-between-syria-and-turkey-and-its-islamist-mercs-14-syri… .fb_iframe_widget span{width:460px !important;} .fb_iframe_widget iframe {margin: 0 !important;} […]
[…] of the 440-kilometre (275-mile) border zone, although clashes have been reported since.more: https://anti-empire.com/heavy-clashes-between-syria-and-turkey-and-its-islamist-mercs-14-syri… .fb_iframe_widget span{width:460px !important;} .fb_iframe_widget iframe {margin: 0 !important;} […]
If it was never stated before, it would seem that Erdogan can never be trusted.
as a Bulgarian/Russian I can confirm, turks are never to be trusted. This is Putin’s 3rd major mistake, trying to be a pal with Erdougan.
what a shame……… Putin’s biggest mistake is to still keeping trusting the turkish goatfuckers . … it’s time for a change and reverse his turkish friendly politics….. Turkey must be eradicated as a state……
What USA got from this “trusting”?
By most accounts, Erdogan is a dictator and radical Islamicist.
The downed Russian fighter by Turkey’s forces and Mr.Putin’s coup intervention on Erdogan’s behalf seem irrelevant now.
Perhaps I’ve got the Erdogan narrative entirely wrong, but I doubt it.
https://warontherocks.com/2019/10/turkey-and-russia-a-remarkable-rapprochement/
Those tanks are built in my hometown – I am ashamed for what they get used.