Turkish forces target Russian drone in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Turkish forces, deploying in the countryside of Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, targeted on Wednesday a Russian drone that was hovering over the area without hitting it.
This came after a day of a trilateral summit that held on July 19 among Russia, Iran and Turkey in Tehran, in which they discussed Syrian crisis.
A military source of Syrian opposition told North Press that the Turkish forces in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib, targeted a huge Russian drone that was hovering over the area with a surface-to-air missile.
The missile did not hit the drone, but it forced it to leave the area that has been witnessing military escalation and mutual shelling between Syrian government forces and Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), for a weeks.
Although the de-escalation zone in northwest Syria is subjected to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment despite the entry of the ceasefire into force.
In March 2020, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement in Moscow that stipulated a ceasefire, the establishment of a safe corridor, and the conduct of joint patrols on the M4/Aleppo-Latakia Highway.
The Turkish forces did not intend to hit the drone, but rather they wanted to warn it to leave the area’s airspace, the source added.
Turkey has established about 70 military posts, and has deployed about 13,000 soldiers and about 9,000 military vehicles in the area subject to the ceasefire agreement signed between it and Russia on March 5, in northwestern Syria.