More Turkish reinforcements in Syria; Russian troops killed

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey sent more reinforcements into northwestern Syria on Thursday, setting up new positions in an attempt to stop a Syrian government offensive on the last rebel stronghold in the war-torn country, the media and opposition activists said.

The move came after a rare confrontation between Turkey and Syria on Monday that killed seven Turkish soldiers and a Turkish civilian member of the military, as well as 13 Syrian soldiers.

In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry announced that Russian soldiers have been killed in a northern Syrian province alongside Turkish servicemen, without saying when the incident occurred. The ministry blamed “terrorists” for the deaths, saying that the attacks in Idlib province intensified in January.

“Russian and Turkish military specialists died tragically,” the statement said, without specifying when and how many Russian soldiers were killed.

Moscow and Ankara are on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war — Russia is a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces while Turkey supports insurgents fighting his government.

Syrian troops have been advancing since December into the country's last rebel stronghold, which spans across the Idlib province and parts of nearby Aleppo region. Turkish troops are deployed in some of those rebel-held areas to monitor an earlier cease-fire that has since collapsed.

Turkey has set up four military posts in northwestern Syria to prevent Syrian government forces from marching deeper into Idlib, Syria's Foreign Ministry said, adding that Turkish troops have “flagrantly violated” Syria's border and deployed in several areas, including the villages of Binnish, Taftanaz and Maaret Musreen.

[link to www.sfchronicle.com (secure)]