Syrian airstrikes kill dozens of Turkish troops in Idlib — live updates
- Syria has conducted airstrikes on Turkish outposts in the rebel stronghold of Idlib, according to Ankara officials.
- 33 soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in the offensive, the governor of a Turkish province bordering Syria has said.
- NATO has condemned the attack, describing it as “indiscriminate,” the UN has said it is “gravely concerned.”
- Turkish forces have launched a counterstrike against Syrian regime targets in Idlib, according to the office of President Erdogan.
Read more: Idlib — The Syrian region abandoned by the world
All updates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT)
01:20 The death toll has risen to 33 as the United Nations Secretary-General Guterres said he’s “gravely concerned” by the escalation in Syria. The UN chief added that the risk of the conflict worsening “grows by the hour” without urgent action.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire and expresses particular concern about the risk to
civilians from escalating military actions,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
00:35 The US State Department has expressed its alarm at the escalating developments in Idlib while coming out in support of Turkey, and citing Iran as partly responsible.
“We stand by our NATO ally Turkey and continue to call for an immediate end to this despicable offensive by the Assad regime, Russia, and Iranian-backed forces,” a State Department representative said in a statement. “We are looking at options on how we can best support Turkey in this crisis.”
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Nowhere to seek shelter
Many Syrian families have been forced to leave Idlib, which remains the last stronghold of forces opposed to President Assad, and some — like this woman and her children — struggle to find refuge.
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Constant fear of airstrikes
Idlib has been the site for multiple airstrikes from Turkish forces, and pro-regime forces backed by Russia. Here, smoke is seen billowing over the town of Bsaqla, in the southern countryside of the province.
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Rubble and glass
Assad’s troops, with Russian air support, are trying to capture the province in what they call “the final battle.” Here, a Syrian man tries to clear rubble at a damaged ward in a hospital that was hit by a reported regime air strike.
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Making do with little
Idlib has been left devoid of any infrastructure, forcing families into refugee camps at the Turkish border. There, too, there is little in the way of resources and organization to make a normal life — and future — possible.
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Sprawling tent town
According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 people have been displaced from Idlib. This drone shot shows tents at a camp hosting families who have been displaced due to the attacks carried out by Assad regime and Russia.
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Idlib: Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold
Facilities in short supply
Rescuers are kept busy bringing in new patients, but medical authorities say there are no clinics left in the south of the province to treat the injured.
00:15 The death toll from the airstrikes continues to rise. “After the airstrike, 29 of our soldiers were martyred,” according to Rahmi Dogan, governor of the Turkish border province of Hatay.
00:08 Details of the phone call between Turkey and NATO have come out and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the Syria and Russia led offensive.
His spokesman said of the phone call between the NATO chief and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu: “Mr Stoltenberg condemned the continued indiscriminate airstrikes by the Syrian regime and its backer Russia in Idlib province, and called on them to stop their offensive, to respect international law and to back UN efforts for a peaceful solution.”
The spokesman added: “He urged all parties to de-escalate this dangerous situation and avoid further worsening of the horrendous humanitarian situation in the region.”
00:04 Turkey is seeking NATO support, according to government spokesman Omer Celik.
23:53 Read about how a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Idlib, and why Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung‘s Rainer Hermann believes the world is looking the other way.
23:43 Some details are emerging from the security meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the airstrikes. The meeting concluded that “the Assad regime is responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. We call on the international community, particularly the parties to the Astana process, to fulfill their responsibilities, to stop the regime’s crimes against humanity,” Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish president’s communications director said in a statement.
23:38 On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas heavily criticized the Russian and Syrian government’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Idlib. Maas said “those responsible must be held accountable.”
23:23 Governor Rahmi Dogan of the Turkish province of Hatay, which borders Idlib, has also revealed that 36 soldiers were wounded in the airstrikes.
23:18 Over the past two years, thousands of hard-line rebels have been transferred from battlefronts in other parts of Syria to Idlib as part of government-backed ceasefire deals. Those transfers have consequently made Idlib the final bastion of opposition to President Bashar Assad, as well as a hotbed of extremist groups.
Turkey — which opposes the Syrian regime — has refused to leave 12 observation outposts in Idlib, saying they are recognized by an agreement with Moscow. However, the Syrian regime views the outposts with hostility, and in December surrounded one of them in a move that nearly opened a new front in the conflict.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
On the run
Traffic is heavy on the roads heading north through the Idlib region toward the Turkish border. Soldiers of the Assad regime are advancing from the south and east, aided by their Russian and Iranian allies. Some Syrian rebel groups are supported by Turkey, which also has soldiers of its own in the region. But ordinary people just want to reach safety.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
‘Horror has multiplied’
Almost 1 million people have been displaced since December. According to UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, “the horror has multiplied” in the past two weeks. The front lines are closing in, triggering large movements of people in the space of just a few days. Assad wants to drive the civilian population out of Idlib province, and is moving to capture this last rebel stronghold.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Bombed to pieces
Maaret al-Numan and the surrounding area has been particularly badly hit by the attacks. The city has been bombed to pieces and is practically deserted. The important M5 highway runs through here, from Damascus via Aleppo to the Turkish border. Most of those fleeing are trying to make it to Turkey — but the border is closed.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Waiting at the border
Around 100 people, including 35 children, died in bombings in the first half of February alone, according to the United Nations, which has spoken of the “blatant disregard for the life and safety of civilians.” This family fled to the Turkish border months ago. They’re living in the Kafr Lusin refugee camp, holding on to the hope that Turkey will eventually let them in.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
500,000 children in need
Out of the almost 1 million people who have fled it’s estimated that around half are children. Of the rest, the majority are women. There aren’t enough shacks at the Turkish border to house them all, and many refugees are living in tents. Camps are often set up in haste and are severely overcrowded. People are sleeping in doorways and on pieces of cardboard, sometimes in sub-zero temperatures.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Little food and medicine
Those who have been able to find a tent usually share it with about a dozen family members. Medicine is running out in many of the camps, and basic food and clothing is also becoming scarce. Doctors on the ground report that many children are suffering from malnutrition, and some are even dying of starvation. The cold is also taking its toll, and some people have already frozen to death.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Refuge in a school
Many children in the region can no longer go to school, so some school buildings have been repurposed. This school has been turned into a refugee shelter — sometimes, even the refugee camps are targeted in bombing raids.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Trying to reach safety
The illegal route across the border to Turkey is costly; hardly anyone can afford it. Smugglers are charging people up to $2,000 (about €1,800). Those who do make the attempt are risking their lives: Turkish border guards have thermal imaging cameras to help them spot people trying to cross. Sometimes they shoot at refugees who try to climb over the wall.
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Syria’s Idlib: A humanitarian disaster
Looking for dignity
The UN has said the situation in Idlib could be the greatest humanitarian disaster of the 21st century. No one knows whether or not there will be a ceasefire. The refugees don’t care who puts an end to the war; they just want a life of safety and dignity, for themselves and for their children. A four-way summit between Turkey, Russia, France and Germany, planned for March 5, is now in jeopardy.
23:11 Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu has discussed the ongoing situation with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, according to Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu, citing government sources.
As a NATO member, Turkey has the right to invoke Article 5 — the collective defense clause — in the event it comes under attack. However, it is unclear whether it could be used in this context. The only time the article has been triggered was in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on American soil. It effectively paved the way for the war in Afghanistan.
Details of the phone call did not specify whether Cavusoglu and Stoltenberg discussed Article 5.
22:45 “All known” Syrian government targets are under fire by Turkish air and land support units, Ankara’s communications director Fahrettin Altun told state-run Anadolu news agency. Turkey has decided to “respond in kind” to the airstrikes by the Syrian regime, Altun added.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Families flee as frontline closes in
Syrian troops have intensified their push for the country’s last major rebel enclave — a “prelude to their total defeat,” according to President Bashar Assad. The violence and mass displacement could result in the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century, said the UN’s humanitarian and emergency relief head, Mark Lowcock. Children in particular have become the face of this suffering.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Largest exodus since World War II
Of the almost 900,000 forced from their homes and shelters in the last three months, 80% have been women and children, a UN spokesperson said. Around 300,000 of those have fled since the start of February alone. The wave of displacement is the largest exodus of civilians since World War II.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Deadly temperatures
With temperatures reaching minus seven Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit) at the snow covered displacement camps in the hills near Turkey’s borders, seven children have died from exposure and bad living conditions. Save the Children said families are burning whatever they can find to stay warm. The chairty warned the death toll could rise.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Belligerents bolster forces
Convoys of Turkish commandos rolled toward the former “de-escalation zone” as Russian-backed Syrian forces intensified their push to retake the area in late January. After 13 Turkish soldiers stationed there to support rebels were killed in early February, diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire stalled.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Highway to nowhere
Assad’s offensive to retake the strategic M5 highway leading through Idlib province to Syria’s second city, Aleppo; has been a long-term objective. After a Russian bombing campaign helped Syrian forces capture all towns along the route on February 11, fierce fighting in western Aleppo forced more than 43,000 toward the Turkish border.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Russian bombing ‘indiscriminate’
The sheer number of Russian and Syrian aerial and artillery attacks on displacement camps, hospitals and schools “suggest they cannot all be accidental,” UN human rights spokesperson Rupert Colville said. His office has recorded 299 civilian deaths this year, 93% caused by the Syrian government and its allies. Michelle Bachelet, the UN’s human rights chief, called the campaign “indiscriminate.”
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Rebels, jihadis strike back
Turkish-supported rebels have been caught out by the onslaught, as have jihadis who are not officially backed by Ankara. One Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, scored a rare victory last week when they downed a particular model of helicopter that Syrian forces are thought to use to drop barrel bombs on civilians.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Search for safety
The UN’s Bachelet said “no shelter is now safe” and displacement camps have been overwhelmed by the number of those fleeing from the violence. Many have left the camps to take their chances on the road. Bachelet called for humanitarian corridors to be established to allow civilians to escape.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
No way out
Turkey has closed its borders to prevent a further influx of Syrians. It already hosts 3.5 million refugees. That leaves the people of Idlib with no escape route. More than 500,000 of those fleeing are children.
22:00 As a result of the airstrikes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called an emergency security meeting in Ankara, broadcaster NTV reported.
21:30 The figure of nine killed has now increased to 22, Hatay Governor Rahmi Dogan has confirmed. “What a shame I have to say that the death toll has risen to 22,” the governor of the border region said.
21:00 At least nine Turkish soldiers have been killed in Idlib, a governor of a Turkish province bordering Syria has said. Hatay Governor Rahmi Dogan said they were killed after airstrikes carried out by the Syrian government.
Turkey has vowed a military response for the deadly attack against its troops in Idlib
jsi/ls (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
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