Turkey says it hit 115 Syrian government targets, destroyed 101 after attacks on soldiers
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish forces have hit 115 Syrian government targets and destroyed 101 of them in retaliation for an attack that killed five Turkish soldiers in Syria's rebel-held northwest, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said Turkish forces would continue to retaliate any attacks on its troops, which have observation posts in the far northwest of Syria. Earlier, the ministry said Syrian forces had killed five Turkish soldiers, among thousands deployed there to help stem a Syrian offensive to retake the last rebel stronghold in the country after nearly nine years of civil war.
"Up to now, 115 (Syrian) regime targets were immediately fired upon, and 101 regime elements were neutralized according to initial information from various sources," the ministry said in a statement. "It was found that three tanks and two mortar positions were destroyed, while one helicopter was also hit."
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
