Turkey deploys large military convoy to Syria as Idlib offensive looms

As warplanes of the Assad regime and Russia have been viciously attacking the last opposition-held stronghold of Syria’s Idlib since Sept. 4, Turkey ramped up its military deployment in northern Syria against a looming offensive in the region early on Sunday morning.

A military convoy consisting of 50 vehicles, including tanks and heavy artillery to provide fire support, arrived in Idlib's southwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur where regime forces first began their attacks on the province’s countryside.

The Turkish army’s eleventh observation point is located in the Eshtabraq village of Jisr al-Shughur. Another strategic aspect of the Jisr al-Shungur town is that it is the region where Assad forces made a massive military buildup when they first signaled an Idlib offensive.

Under the Astana agreement, Turkish forces are present at 12 points from Idlib's north to south.

On the other hand, a batch of the Turkish army’s Fırtına (storm) self-propelled howitzers have been relocated to Turkey’s southern Hatay province from the Kilis-Syria border, according to reports.

Turkey has been reinforcing its military presence on the border with Syria and had instructed over 50,000 Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters stationed in Afrin, Azaz, Jarabulus, al-Bab and al-Rai to “be ready for military deployment” early in September.

The number of Turkish soldiers dispatched to northern Syria exceeds 30,000 in the areas within the scope of the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations and Idlib.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others were displaced, according to UN officials.