Turkish troops on Sunday exchanged fire with Syria-based militants as Ankara massed military vehicles on the frontier ahead of an expected incursion to oust Al Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate from Idlib province.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation by pro-Ankara Syrian rebel forces backed by the Turkish army, whose launch he announced the day before, was “having no problem” and continuing “in a calm way”.
Most of the northwestern region is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), a group led by Al Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, which ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
Turkey has massed special forces and military hardware including tanks on the border but the operation has yet to begin in earnest, monitors and sources on the ground said.
But Turkish forces fired seven mortars over the border with the aim of easing the passage of the pro-Ankara Syrian forces, the Dogan news agency reported.
Turkish forces have also been seen removing parts of the security wall Ankara has built on the border so that military vehicles can pass through into Syria.
Pro-government media said that the operation was now into its “second day”. Erdogan had said the day earlier Turkish forces were not yet operating in Syria although the allied Syrian forces were.
On Sunday morning, HTS fighters opened fire on Turkish forces removing part of a wall along the border between turkey and Idlib, witnesses and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
Turkish armoured vehicles and troops were waiting on the border, from where smoke could be seen from the mortar fire.
Television images showed locals in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli in Hatay province cheering as more armoured vehicles were driven through the town overnight. Ankara wants to oust the HTS from Idlib in order to create a de-escalation zone into which it can send military monitors to implement a ceasefire.
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