Turkish armored vehicles have rolled into northwestern Syria to implement a de-escalation agreement in a province dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deployment of nearly 16 armored vehicles, five tanks and a military force late Thursday came days after Turkey sent reconnaissance missions to the area.
A rebel fighter says the troops deployed near a border crossing into the Idlib province, between a Kurdish-held area and an area held by Syrian rebels. The fighter spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the press, Bloomberg reported.
Turkey said it was carrying out a military operation in Idlib and surrounding areas as part of a deal it reached with Russia and Iran last month to enforce a "de-escalation" zone in northwest Syria.
“We are spending efforts to establish a peace corridor rather than a terror corridor in the region,” Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Oct. 11, as he added that the move was in line with accords in Astana peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian war.
