Reports: Turkey's artillery strike kills Russian soldier in northern Syria

Photos: Efrin24 News

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Turkey's artillery bombardment targeting Kurdish groups in northern Syria reportedly hit a Russian military vehicle, killing one soldier and wounding a few others.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the armored vehicle was struck by a shell while traveling on the Umm Hawsh-Harbel road in the northern countryside of Aleppo. One Russian soldier was reported to have lost their life, while four soldiers sustained injuries.

Sources close to anti-government groups in Syria provided a conflicting account, stating that the number of injured personnel was three. They also noted that Russia evacuated the injured soldiers by helicopter. The incident occurred in the Shahba region, which includes Tel Rifaat and its surroundings, where there are contact lines between the armies of Turkey, Russia and Syria, as well as the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) forces.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Ministry of National Defense announced that artillery fire was carried out yesterday in the "Operation Euphrates Shield" area as a response to an attack.

Turkey occasionally targets the Tel Rifaat region due to the presence of the YPG, which it considers a "terror group."

Turkey conducted four major ground operations in Syria between 2016 and 2019 and, in alliance with armed groups, currently controls various regions in the country's north and northwest. Furthermore, it maintains a military presence and observation points in Idlib, which is known as a stronghold for jihadist groups.

#عــاجــل

طيران مروحي روسي يحلق على علو منخفض فوق أجواء مناطق الشهباء و مدينة عفرين المحتلة ، وذلك على خلفية استهداف عربة روسية منذ قليل على طريق قريتي أم الحوش _ حربل والذي أسفر عن مقتل جندي روسي و إصابة 3 آخرين. pic.twitter.com/RQWmLBe2gZ

— عفرين نيوز٢٤ Efrin_News24 (@efrin_news24) June 12, 2023

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