Turkish Soldier Killed, 4 Hurt in Attack in Syria

Turkish Army officers block the outskirts of the village of Sugedigi, Turkey, on the border with Syria, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018..(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Turkish Army officers block the outskirts of the village of Sugedigi, Turkey, on the border with Syria, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018..(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
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Turkish Soldier Killed, 4 Hurt in Attack in Syria

Turkish Army officers block the outskirts of the village of Sugedigi, Turkey, on the border with Syria, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018..(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Turkish Army officers block the outskirts of the village of Sugedigi, Turkey, on the border with Syria, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018..(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

A rocket attack on a Turkish military supply convoy in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province has killed one soldier and wounded four others, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Turkish forces retaliated to the attack by firing on targets they identified in the region, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It did not elaborate or say who was responsible for the attack late Monday, according to The Associated Press.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said a roadside bomb exploded when a Turkish convoy of seven vehicles was passing on a road between the border crossing point of Bab al-Hawa and the Syrian border village of Kfar Lousin.

The Observatory said one of the vehicles suffered a direct hit. Ambulances, it said, rushed to the areas to evacuate Turkish troops who suffered injuries.

It added that Turkish troops cordoned off the area for some time preventing people from reaching it.

Last year, Turkey and Russia reached a cease-fire agreement that stopped a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive on Idlib - the last major opposition stronghold in Syria.

Despite sporadic violations, the agreement has held since then.

Russia is the Syrian government’s main military ally, while Turkey has backed the Syrian opposition.



Russia Denies its Hmeimim Base in Syria Is Being Used to Supply Hezbollah with Weapons from Iran

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Russia Denies its Hmeimim Base in Syria Is Being Used to Supply Hezbollah with Weapons from Iran

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)

Russia has asked Israel to avoid launching aerial strikes as part of its war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah near one of Moscow’s bases in Syria, a top official said Wednesday.

Syrian state media in mid-October claimed that Israel had struck the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad, who is supported by Russia and in turn backs Hezbollah.

Latakia, and in particular its airport, is close to the town of Hmeimim that hosts a Russian air base.

“Israel actually carried out an air strike in the immediate vicinity of Hmeimim,” Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy in the Near East, told the RIA Novosti press agency.

“Our military has of course notified Israeli authorities that such acts that put Russian military lives in danger over there are unacceptable,” he added.

“That is why we hope that this incident in October will not be repeated.”

Israel has carried out intensive bombing of Syria but rarely targets Latakia, to the northwest of Damascus.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of transporting weapons through Syria.

The two warring parties have been in open conflict since September after Israel’s year-long Gaza war with Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — escalated to a new front.

Lavrentiev said that Russia’s air base was not being used to supply Hezbollah with weapons.

Israel stepped up strikes on Syria at the same time as targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian government forces and groups supported by its arch-foe Iran, notably Hezbollah fighters that have been deployed to assist Assad’s regime.

Israel rarely comments on its strikes but has said it will not allow Iran to extend its presence to Syria.