Turkish Attacks on Syrian Military Bases Prompt Threats of Immediate Retaliation

The Syrian military said late Tuesday that it would immediately retaliate against any Turkish attack on Syrian bases. The statement from the Syrian military was in response to a Turkish airstrike on Syrian bases in northern Syria on Tuesday, which Damascus said killed three soldiers. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however, reported 11 people killed and eight wounded, several of them in critical condition, as a result of the Turkish attack. The Turkish airstrike hit a Syrian base in the countryside of Ayn al-Arab in Aleppo province, near the Syrian-Turkish border, the UK-based watchdog group said. Syria retaliated for that attack by targeting Turkish bases, causing unspecified casualties and damage. Turkey has expanded its attacks on northern and northeastern Syria in a campaign against Kurdish militias in the area.