Turkey deploys US-made air defense System to Syria’s Idlib

Turkey has reportedly deployed a US-made air defense system to Idlib as Ankara beefs up its military presence in the militant-held Syrian region despite a ceasefire reached earlier this month to halt an escalation.

According to reports, citing military news sites, Turkey's Zaman al-Wasl reported that a Turkish army convoy had deployed the American MIM-23 HAWK medium-range surface-to-air system to Idlib.

The development comes a few weeks after photos of the Turkish military sending anti-aircraft missiles to the region first surfaced via social media.

Turkey shells Syrian villages

Meanwhile, the Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that Turkish troops had shelled nine villages in Afrin north of the provincial capital of Aleppo.

Turkish troops targeted Kafr Antoun, Arshadiyah, Alkmeyah, Malikiyah, Maranaz, Shawaragh, Tanb, Kshattar and Tat Marrash villages of Shara district on Sunday, it said.

Turkish forces also shelled the village of Debs on the M4 international highway west of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa on Friday, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The UK-based monitoring group said Turkish forces further targeted the Kurdish-controlled villages of Shawargha and Irshadiya in the Shara district of Aleppo.

SS