Syria commanders accuse Turkey of masterminding militant attack

Syrian field commanders say Turkey has helped Takfiri militants conduct an attack in the northwest this week to counter the government forces’ advances.

Syria's official news agency SANA said Friday, "Field commanders confirmed to the SANA correspondent that terrorists from the Turkistan Islamic Party with the direct support, direction and planning of the Turkish regime, brought most of their forces... to start their attack."

According to the report, the militants used Turkish vehicles in the attack.

In late October, the Syrian army, supported by allied forces and Russian air power, began an offensive in Hama Province. Earlier this month, they had advanced into Idlib, close to a militant-held military airport.

Syrian forces are going for an airbase in southeastern Idlib Province. They advanced to within three kilometers of the Abu al-Duhur military airport on Wednesday. The forces have taken scores of villages in recent weeks near the provincial border between Idlib and Hama.

The terrorist groups reportedly launched a counter attack in Idlib on Wednesday after the advance the army and its allies made toward the airbase.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, and a military media unit run by the Lebanese ally Hezbollah resistance movement said on Friday the army had taken back several villages captured by the militants in the counter attack.

Militant groups seized Idlib, which borders Turkey, in 2015.

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