Turkey strikes Syrian planes and airports

Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes over Idlib on March 1 and struck a military airport well beyond its frontlines in a sharp escalation of its military operations following the death of dozens of Turkish soldiers last week.

Ankara has ramped up its attacks, including drone strikes, against the Russian-backed Syrian forces since Feb. 27, after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Damascus.

It has already deployed thousands of troops and military vehicles in northwest Syria's Idlib province in the last month to stem advances by Syrian government forces which have displaced 1 million people close to Turkey's southern border.

Already hosting over 3.6 million Syrian refugees, Ankara is determined to prevent any further influx from Syria. It has also let migrants cross its borders into the European Union, in an apparent effort to press for EU support in tackling the Syria crisis.

Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in the last four days Turkish forces destroyed eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 72 howitzers, rocket launchers, a drone and six air defence systems. He dubbed Turkey's operation, the fourth one in Syria in four years, "Operation Spring Shield".

Turkey's Defense Ministry said that the air defense systems which shot down the Turkish drone were destroyed.

Despite the warning, Turkish warplanes downed two Syrian warplanes, while Turkey's state-run Anadolu agency said the Turkish military had targeted and rendered unusable Nayrab airport, west of Aleppo city.

Turkey-backed opposition commanders also said Kuweires airport, east of Nayrab, had been bombed since midnight. Both airports are well inside the Syrian regime-controlled territory, marking a significant expansion of Ankara's targets.

The...