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dpa
Istanbul
Turkey has sent reinforcements to its military posts in Hatay province along the border with Syria, state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.
A convoy of trucks, carrying troops, tanks and armoured vehicles, arrived in Hatay’s Altinozu district, Anadolu said.
The reinforcements would be deployed to posts along the border with the Syrian province of Idlib, the last key opposition stronghold in Syria, the report added.
Anadolu also reported Turkish army manoeuvres in the area. It was not immediately clear if the reinforcements, which began arriving on Friday, were aimed at an operation inside Idlib.
On Thursday, the al-Qaeda-led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of most of Idlib after a pact with the rival Turkish-backed rebel group National Liberation Front (NLF) was reached.
In September, Russia and Turkey reached a deal to establish a demilitarized buffer zone in the enclave, a move that prevented a major government offensive there. President Donald Trump last month claimed the Islamic State group had been defeated in Syria and said all US troops were “coming back now.”
But in the weeks since he gave the order, and the Pentagon began to implement it, Trump himself and members of his administration have delivered mixed messages about when a troop withdrawal may actually occur.
Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton on Sunday announced conditions for a withdrawal that appeared to delay it indefinitely.
Adding to the confusion, a military spokesman said Friday the US had already begun “the process of our deliberate withdrawal” from Syria.
Istanbul
Turkey has sent reinforcements to its military posts in Hatay province along the border with Syria, state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.
A convoy of trucks, carrying troops, tanks and armoured vehicles, arrived in Hatay’s Altinozu district, Anadolu said.
The reinforcements would be deployed to posts along the border with the Syrian province of Idlib, the last key opposition stronghold in Syria, the report added.
Anadolu also reported Turkish army manoeuvres in the area. It was not immediately clear if the reinforcements, which began arriving on Friday, were aimed at an operation inside Idlib.
On Thursday, the al-Qaeda-led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of most of Idlib after a pact with the rival Turkish-backed rebel group National Liberation Front (NLF) was reached.
In September, Russia and Turkey reached a deal to establish a demilitarized buffer zone in the enclave, a move that prevented a major government offensive there. President Donald Trump last month claimed the Islamic State group had been defeated in Syria and said all US troops were “coming back now.”
But in the weeks since he gave the order, and the Pentagon began to implement it, Trump himself and members of his administration have delivered mixed messages about when a troop withdrawal may actually occur.
Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton on Sunday announced conditions for a withdrawal that appeared to delay it indefinitely.
Adding to the confusion, a military spokesman said Friday the US had already begun “the process of our deliberate withdrawal” from Syria.
