Turkish Military Convoy Enters Syria’s Idlib

Turkish soldiers stand near armored vehicles near the Turkey-Syria border. (AFP)
Turkish soldiers stand near armored vehicles near the Turkey-Syria border. (AFP)
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Turkish Military Convoy Enters Syria’s Idlib

Turkish soldiers stand near armored vehicles near the Turkey-Syria border. (AFP)
Turkish soldiers stand near armored vehicles near the Turkey-Syria border. (AFP)

A Turkish military convoy entered Syria’s northwestern opposition-held region of Syria on Wednesday.

At least 40 vehicles, including trucks and armored personnel carriers, were seen moving slowly south along a main highway under the cover of darkness.

The troops they were carrying are expected to be deployed at "observation posts" Turkey has already set up in opposition-held areas of Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the vehicles were heading to Turkish monitoring posts, including in the southwestern parts of Idlib.

There was no word from Turkey on any reinforcements to the area.

It last sent a similar troop column into northern Syria just over a week ago.

Wednesday's convoy entered as the deadline for implementing a Turkish-Russian accord on the future of Syria's last major opposition bastion draws closer.

Last month, Moscow and Ankara agreed to set up a demilitarized zone ringing opposition territory to avert a threatened regime offensive.

All factions in the zone must withdraw heavy weapons by October 10, and radical groups must leave by October 15. It will then be monitored by Turkish troops and Russian military police.

The region's dominant armed group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an alliance led by extremists of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, has still not officially responded to the accord.

Turkey's main opposition allies, the National Liberation Front, gave the deal a cautious welcome before objecting to its provisions for a Russian troop presence inside the zone.

The NLF says it is still hammering out the details of the agreement's implementation with Ankara, and is wary that the current proposals would eat into their territory too much.



Hezbollah Claims it Foiled Plot to Smuggle Explosive-Laden Pagers in Türkiye

Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
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Hezbollah Claims it Foiled Plot to Smuggle Explosive-Laden Pagers in Türkiye

Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)

Hezbollah has revealed alerting Turkish authorities to a shipment of booby-trapped pagers at Istanbul Airport last September, saying its tip-off prevented a major attack. Turkish media previously reported that national intelligence forces had intercepted a shipment of electronic devices rigged with explosives en route from Istanbul to Lebanon.

According to Turkish sources, the operation took place on September 20, just three days after a deadly incident in Lebanon in which hundreds of communication pagers used by Hezbollah reportedly exploded, killing around 40 people and injuring hundreds. Many of the injuries involved damage to eyes and limbs. Reports at the time indicated that approximately 3,000 devices had detonated. Israel later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in April that Israeli intelligence had orchestrated the sabotage. Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu revealed that Mossad had tracked pagers Hezbollah sent for scanning in Iran and targeted the scanning equipment beforehand. “We destroyed the scanner and the operator,” he said.

Second Shipment Thwarted

The intercepted shipment in Türkiye was discovered on September 20, after Turkish intelligence received a tip-off about a suspicious cargo scheduled for transfer to Beirut. The shipment had arrived from Hong Kong on September 16 via the Taiwanese company SMT Global Logistics and was falsely declared as containing food processors. It was scheduled to be flown to Lebanon on September 27.

Upon inspection, Turkish authorities found 61 boxes weighing over 850 kilograms. The contents included 1,300 “Gold Apollo 924 R3 GP” pagers, 710 desk chargers, and various electronics such as mixers and audio devices. Detailed analysis revealed that explosive materials had been injected into the pagers’ batteries, allowing for remote detonation via electronic signal or short circuit.

The pagers were traced back to Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, reportedly linked to a Hungarian company, Bac Consulting KFT, which Turkish media suggest may be a front for intelligence operations.

Hezbollah Confirms it was Behing the Tip-off

Although Turkish authorities did not publicly name the source of the intelligence, Hezbollah confirmed its role. Speaking to Lebanon’s LBCI channel, Hezbollah media official Youssef Zein said the party had warned Turkish officials of a “booby-trapped pager shipment” at Istanbul Airport that was bound for Lebanon.

Pagers are small wireless communication devices used for receiving text messages and alerts and are commonly deployed in field operations. A Lebanese security source stated that Hezbollah had previously ordered 5,000 such devices from Gold Apollo in early 2024.

Israeli media reports claimed the attack on the devices was the result of years of work by Mossad to infiltrate Hezbollah’s communication infrastructure, both to spy on its operations and to physically disrupt its networks.

Israel last week honored three Mossad operatives allegedly involved in the operation. Their identities were kept secret, and they appeared masked at a torch-lighting ceremony during Independence Day celebrations.