Open source

Turkey launched a Spring Shield large-scale military operation in northwestern Syria. This was announced by Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, as Anadolu reported.



Akar said the operation was launched "in response to a sneaky airstrike on the positions of the Turkish military, which killed 36 soldiers on February 27 in the de-escalation zone."



"Turkey does not pursue the goal of armed confrontation with Russia in Syria. Our task is to prevent the crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime, eliminate radicalization and prevent migration. The Turkish armed forces are based on the right to self-defense. Our goal is only Assad’s supporters who attacking the location of the Turkish military," Akar said.

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The Turkish Minister of Defense informed that since the beginning of the operation one drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 72 howitzer artillery installations, three air defense systems have been destroyed, 2,221 Syrian regime soldiers have been neutralized.



The media later reported that Turkey shot down two Syrian fighters. Previously, fighter pilots managed to eject.

The situation in Idlib escalated after several dozen Turkish soldiers were killed in Syrian Idlib by the army of Bashar al-Assad and the troops of the Russian Federation.



After the attack, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.



The Turkish army retaliated against the positions of Bashar al-Assad’s troops in Idlib, in revenge for the deaths of more than three dozen Turkish soldiers in this Syrian province.