Turkey suffers mass casualties in Syria airstrike

Turkish forces suffered heavy casualties on Thursday when dozens of troops were hit by an airstrike in northeastern Syria apparently ordered by the Syrian government.

The New York Times reported Thursday that at least 22 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike on a Turkish observation post in Syria, with one Syrian aid agency telling the Times that the number of fatalities could be as high as 34.

A convoy resupplying the post was attacked, Turkish officials told the Times, before the post was hit by the airstrike. No Syrian forces on either side of the conflict were injured in the attack, according to the newspaper.

Turkish forces have launched a military offensive in previously Kurdish-held areas of northeastern Syria, where the Turkish government is attempting to resettle more than 1 million Syrian refugees who fled the waning Syrian civil war.

Kurdish and Syrian rebel groups operating in the area have reportedly called for assistance from Syria’s government amid the offensive, resulting in Syrian forces circling Turkish military, according to the news source. 

Thursday’s offensive occurred in the war-torn Idlib Province, which has seen many families aligned with the rebel forces arrive as refugees throughout the course of the war. The area has become the last remaining stronghold of Syrian rebel forces.