ANKARA (Dispatches) –
Turkish military forces have shelled two villages in Syria’s northwestern province of Aleppo, only a few days after Ankara dispatched military and logistical equipment to northern amid mass protests against the presence of Turkish troops in the conflict-plagued Arab country.
Turkish forces fired heavy artillery rounds at Ain Digna and Bailounieh on Thursday, Beirut-based al-Mayadeen television news network, citing local sources, reported.
The development came amid reports that the Turkish military is poised to launch two new military incursions in northern Syria.
Informed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that Turkish-backed militants are on high alert in northern Syria, and would involve themselves once troops start the onslaughts.
“An operation will be mounted in [Syria’s northern] Idlib province to support terrorist groups based there. Another operation will be launched in northeastern Syria against Kurdish militants,” the unnamed sources added.
The sources said the Turkish military aggression would likely not begin before the forthcoming meeting between Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in Glasgow, Scotland, during the COP26 climate summit.
Syria’s official SANA news agency, citing local sources, reported on Wednesday that two convoys of 100 trucks each, carrying battle tanks, artillery batteries and logistical supplies, had crossed into Syrian territories through Khirbet al-Joz crossing, and headed towards Jabal al-Zawiya area in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.
The report added that the convoys were meant to fortify the positions of Turkish military forces in northwest Syria, and help militants fighting Syrian government troops.
Idlib is the last major stronghold of foreign-backed terrorists, especially Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, fighting against the legitimate government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On Monday, residents of Kafr Naya town, north of Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo, expressed strong resentment during a large rally to the deployment of Turkish troops and their allied Takfiri militants.
They urged respect for Syria’s territorial integrity, stressing the need to confront attempts aimed at occupation and disintegration of the Syrian territory.