Three Syrian soldiers killed, six wounded in Turkish airstrike

Turkey has carried out numerous military operations in northern Syria since 2016, mainly targeting the Kurdish YPG militia.

A motorbike burns after an airstrike in this screen grab taken from a social media video said to be taken in Idlib, Syria on July 16, 2019 (photo credit: WHITE HELMETS/SOCIAL MEDIA VIA REUTERS)
A motorbike burns after an airstrike in this screen grab taken from a social media video said to be taken in Idlib, Syria on July 16, 2019
(photo credit: WHITE HELMETS/SOCIAL MEDIA VIA REUTERS)

Three Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded in a Turkish airstrike on military posts in the Aleppo countryside on Tuesday, state media quoted a military source as saying.

Turkish warplanes targeted the posts from 2:37 - 3:00 p.m. local time, the Syrian state TV and news agency reported.

UK-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, questioned the total, claiming the Turkish airstrike killed 11 people and saying that it was not immediately clear if they were all Syrian soldiers. 

What is Turkey's role in Syria?

Turkey has carried out numerous military operations in northern Syria since 2016, mainly targeting the Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey officially considers a terrorist organization. 

 TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara last month. (credit: MURAT CETINMUHURDAR/PRESIDENTIAL PALACE/REUTERS)
TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara last month. (credit: MURAT CETINMUHURDAR/PRESIDENTIAL PALACE/REUTERS)

A Kurdish commander in the Syrian Democratic Forces, the US-backed group that helped defeat ISIS, was murdered in a targeted assassination by a drone strike in Syria on July 22 – the latest attempt by Ankara to attack US-backed anti-ISIS forces.

Turkish strikes allegedly killed four other members of a Kurdish security force south of Ayn Issa as well as nine tourists in northern Iraq last July.

Russia, Iran and Turkey oppose the US role in Syria.

Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.