Turkish forces set up military post southwest of Syria's Aleppo

Turkish forces have set up a military post southwest of the Syrian city of Aleppo as part of the Astana agreement with Iran and Russia on “de-escalation zones.”

The Turkish military said in a statement on Monday that there were plans to begin reconnaissance work on establishing two more observation posts inside northwest Syria.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the new Turkish observation post was near the village of El-Ais.

Under the deal between Ankara, Moscow and Tehran aimed at reducing violence, Turkey agreed to set up a dozen observation posts in Idlib and neighboring provinces.

In mid-September last year, Russia, Iran, and Turkey, which together act as guarantor states in peace talks for Syria, agreed on the details of four “de-escalation zones” in the Arab country, including in Idlib, during peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The de-escalation zones are aimed at separating extremist groups, including Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham -- formerly known as al-Nusra Front -- from other militants.

The northwestern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey and is largely under the control of al-Nusra Front terrorists, is one of the last main strongholds of Takfiri terrorists opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who have been driven from most of their bastions across Syria in recent years.

SS