Turkey’s Losses In Syria Mounts With New Greater Idlib Attack That Left Seven Casualties (Photos)

Turkish forces are seen near Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, Syria January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Late on October 15, a convoy of the Turkish military came under attack as it was leaving the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib where Ankara maintains a large force.

A heavy improvised explosive device struck the convoy as it was moving towards the Turkish border on the Bab al-Hawa highway in the eastern Idlib countryside. A Turkish BMC Kirpi MRAP [Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected] vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion along with a pickup truck of the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL).

According to several news sources based in Greater Idlib, two Turkish service members were killed and five others were wounded as a result of the attack. Four militants of the NFL were also wounded. The Turkish Ministry of National Defense is yet to comment on the incident.

Large IED attack targeting a Turkish convoy in Marat Misreen in Idlib. A Kirpi MRAP was badly damaged. pic.twitter.com/6BeqGyXQV9

— Woofers (@N0tWoofers) October 15, 2021

Escorting truck carrying rebels also damaged with casualties. Troops are from the First Corps apparently. pic.twitter.com/rGMDedka2I

— Woofers (@N0tWoofers) October 15, 2021

Sarayat Ansar Abu Baker As-Siddiq claimed responsibility for the attack in an official statement. Very little is known about the group that first emerged in November of 2020.

A day prior to the attack, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the de-facto ruler of Greater Idlib, claimed that its security forces had captured a key bomb maker of Sarayat Ansar Abu Baker As-Siddiq. The group denied these claimed in a statement and said that the detained man was not even one of its regular soldiers.

Sarayat Ansar Abu Baker As-Siddiq stepped up its attack on Turkish troops in Greater Idlib in the last two months. On September 10, three Turkish soldiers were killed when the group attacked their convoy in the eastern outskirts of Idlib city. On October 5, the group targeted a vehicle carrying Turkish officers in the southern Idlib countryside.

Turkey reinforced its troops in Greater Idlib recently. Not to counter Sarayat Ansar Abu Baker As-Siddiq, but to stop any ground operation by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies against terrorist groups in the region.

While Turkey is ignoring its mounting losses in Greater Idlib, it is reportedly preparing to embark on a new military operation against US-backed forces in northern Syria. Last week, Ankara lost a marine and two policemen in the northern Aleppo countryside.

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