Turkish forces have sent new military reinforcements to Syria’s northwest province of Idlib to support their allied Takfiri militants as they seek to consolidate their hold on areas under their control.
Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official SANA news agency that a convoy of dozens of trucks, carrying various types of weapons, military equipment, logistical supplies and blocks of cement, crossed the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Monday and headed towards terrorist strongholds in the Jabal al-Zawiya mountains.
Turkey had already sent trucks of military and logistical equipment to northern Syria last October.
SANA, citing local sources, reported at the time that a convoy consisting of dozens of trucks, loaded with sophisticated weapons, heavy artillery batteries, anti-armour ammunition and advanced personnel carriers, drove through Syrian territories on October 31 and headed for the city of Ras al-Ayn and its surroundings.
Turkish-backed militants seize olive groves and residential buildings from Syrians
Additionally, Turkey-based takfiri militants have seized large swathes of olive trees and squatted several residential buildings in Syria’s northern Aleppo province.
SANA, citing local sources, said members of the so-called Levant Front terror group expropriated agricultural land planted with more than 360 olive trees in the village of Mereske north of Afrin city. populated by Kurds.
The sources added that the extremists plan to transfer the olive crops over the border and sell the products to Turkish merchants.
Additionally, Turkish-sponsored militants forcibly evacuated several families from their homes in Afrin city’s Ashrafiyeh neighborhood and occupied their homes.
It comes as rival Turkey-based militants have turned on each other in northern Syria.
In mid-November, dozens of takfiri militants were killed or injured after engaging in heavy firefights in the northern provinces of Hasakah and Raqqah.
SANA reported at the time that bloody fighting broke out between militants affiliated with the Hamza Division, which is affiliated with the so-called Free Syrian Army and trained and equipped by the United States and Turkey, on the outskirts of the city of Ras al-Ayn in Hasakah. Province.
The report added that rival militants were intensely attacking each other’s positions, using heavy and semi-heavy weapons.
The development came days after violent clashes erupted between Turkish-affiliated militant groups in Syria’s northern Raqqah province.
SANA said clashes broke out between elements of the Turkish-backed militant groups Ahrar al-Sharqiya and Sham Legion in the areas of Ayn Issa, al-Sharkarak and Hammam al-Turkman.
Turkey deployed forces in Syria in violation of the territorial integrity of the Arab country.
Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeast Syria in October 2019 after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push back fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (Kurdish People’s Protection Units). YPG) away from border areas.
Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has sought to create an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials have said Damascus will respond with all legitimate means at its disposal to the ongoing ground offensive by Turkish forces in the north of the Arab country.
