ANKARA: Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Saturday and three others injured in an attack in the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib, the Turkish defence ministry said.

“Our companions were killed in a vile and infamous attack,” said Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, while the presidency vowed to avenge the killings. The attackers targeted “a unit returning from a patrol”, the ministry said, without giving details on the type of assault. A reporter on the scene said it was a bomb blast on the Idlib-Bennish road. Idlib is home to the last major jihadist and rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. Offering his condolences to the families of the dead soldiers, Turkish presidency spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter that “none of our martyrs will go unavenged”.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2021