33 Turkish soldiers killed in air strike by Syrian government forces

The Syrian government has claimed its force have killed over 33 Turkish soldiers in northwestern province.

Meanwhile, Turkey has vowed to respond in kind with attacks on all their positions.

The rapid escalation of the conflict on Friday also threatened another refugee crisis as reports cited Turkish officials saying they “opened the gates” for Syrian refugees to transit unimpeded to Europe.

Erdogan threatens imminent Turkish operation in Syria.

“Despite warnings after the first strike, the Syrian regime unfortunately continued its attacks, even targeting ambulances,” Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday.

He added that retaliatory attacks killed 309 regime troops.

“Turkish forces destroyed five Syrian regime choppers, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, five ammunition trucks, a SA-17, a SA-22 air defense system as well as three ammunition depots,” Akar added.

“Turkish soldiers who were in the battle formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.

Russian state television reported Turkish military specialists were using shoulder-fired missiles to try to shoot down Russian and Syrian military aircraft over Idlib.

“The Assad regime represents a threat to our national security, the region and Europe since it began acting like a criminal network terrorising its own citizens,” Fahrettin Altun, the head of Turkey’s presidential communications department, said.