Russia Carries Out Raids Near Turkish Base in Northern Syria

Smoke rises from a Russian strike in northern Syria on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke rises from a Russian strike in northern Syria on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Russia Carries Out Raids Near Turkish Base in Northern Syria

Smoke rises from a Russian strike in northern Syria on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke rises from a Russian strike in northern Syria on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Russian warplanes launched raids near a Turkish base in the countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria, after Ankara announced the killing of a soldier in a bombing by Kurdish forces.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of one of its soldiers as a result of a missile attack in the northern countryside of Aleppo, within the area known as the “Euphrates Shield”, which is under Turkey’s control.

A leader in the Syrian National Army said the raids were the third of their kind within weeks.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday, a number of bilateral and regional issues, including developments in Syria and the situation in Idlib.

The phone call came a week after the two leaders met in Sochi, where they discussed the Syria and the tense situation in Idlib. They stressed their commitment to previous agreements and understandings in this regard.

In the same context, the spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey, Omer Celik, warned that any attack by the Syrian regime forces or any tension that occurs in the Idlib governorate would lead to new waves migrants and humanitarian tragedies.

He added that his country was closely monitoring any violations of the ceasefire signed with Russia on March 5, 2020, and attacks targeting civilians.



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.