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Russian airstrikes kill 78 Turkish-backed militants in Syria’s Idlib: SOHR

Members of Turkish-backed Faylaq al-Sham (Sham Legion) militant group are seen during an exercise in an undisclosed location in Syria. (File photo)

Dozens of Turkish-backed Takfiri militants have been killed in Syria’s troubled northwestern province of Idlib when Turkish fighter jets carried out a string of airstrikes against the positions of terror groups operating in the area.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 78 members of Faylaq al-Sham (Sham Legion) terrorist group were killed on Monday as Russian warplanes targeted their training camp in the Jabal Duwayli area of the province.

The war monitor added that more than 90 others were wounded in the airstrikes, noting that the death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are reported to be in critical condition and many militants are apparently buried under the rubble.

Turkish forces, allied militants shell village in northern Syria

Also on Monday, Turkish military forces and allied militants launched barrages of mortar shells at residential neighborhoods in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that Turkish troops and their proxies targeted buildings in Qaz’ali village, which lies west of Tal Abyad town, causing material damage.

The development came only a day after Turkish forces and their allies shelled the villages of al-Nuwaihat and Qabir Khadrawi in the Abu Rasin district of the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah. No reports about possible casualties or the extent of damage were quickly available.

Ankara has been providing support to militants operating to topple the Damascus government since early 2011.

Last year, Turkey seized control of the border town of Ra’s al-Ayn after it launched a cross-border invasion of northeastern Syria with the help of its allied armed groups to push Kurdish militants affiliated with the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Ankara views YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).


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