Clashes evolve between Turkish forces and opposition groups over M4 highway sit-in

North-Press Agency

An opposition group targeted the Turkish point in the town of al-Nairab with mortars, while Turkish forces responded to the sources of the shelling with a drone airstrike, amid reports of meetings among the opposition groups to calm and break the sit-in.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that on Sunday evening, Turkish helicopters headed to Turkish points in the southeast of Idlib to transport injured Turkish soldiers after clashes with the sit-ins on the M4 highway.  

On Sunday, opposition media sites reported that an opposition group, likely Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), targeted the Turkish point in the town of al-Nairab with mortars; no party has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Those sites added that a bulldozer, a tank and an armored vehicle belonging to the Turkish Army were targeted by anti-armor missiles. This was followed by the flight of a Turkish drone which targeted the mortar launch site and anti-armor missile base, destroying them.   

SOHR announced that HTS targeted Turkish military points in the town of al-Nairab in response to Turkish forces' targeting of their sit-ins at the M4 highway, killing 4 of them.

SOHR added that meetings are taking place between the opposition groups and HTS to calm the situation and break the sit-in on the M4 highway. 

A field source previously told North Press on Sunday that Turkish forces had taken control of two of the sit-ins, the first in the east of al-Nairab near the town of Tarenba and the second is at the entrance of al-Nairab from the western side.

Clashes took place between Turkish forces and the sit-ins, accompanied by the opposition groups who are on the M4 highway, killing three people, one of whom was a member of the opposition groups, and the others were residents of the region. Five people were also injured, according to the field source.