Turkey said it hit back at Syrian government forces on Monday after “intense” Syrian shelling killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syria’s northern Idlib province. Eight Turkish military and civilian personnel and 13 Syrian soldiers were killed in a similar clash in the province last week. The buildup and the continued government advances sparked a rare clash on Feb. 3 between Turkish and Syrian soldiers that killed eight Turkish military personnel and 13 Syrian troops. Turkey has blamed the attacks on the Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the People’s Protection Units. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists linked to a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 10, 2020 13:30 UTC