BALADI NEWS
37 Turkish soldiers have been killed and dozens injured on Thursday due to airstrikes carried out by Assad regime forces against a Turkish military position in Idlib, Baladi News correspondent reported.
The airstrikes took place at 9:30 pm Syria time, in the town of Ballion, in Idlib's countryside, according to local sources.
Severely wounded Turkish soldiers were brought to hospitals for their treatment, says Turkish Governor of southern Hatay province Rahmi Dogan.
Activists on social media posted photos of dozens of civilians who gathered near a Turkish hospital in the town of al-Rihanyie, near Turkey's border, and who were waiting for the injured to arrive.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called an emergency security meeting in Ankara following the Syrian regime airstrike on Turkish soldiers.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by telephone following the attack.
This bombardment follows a significant advance of the Syrian opposition factions on the front lines of Idlib's eastern countryside. In that advance, the opposition factions recaptured the city of Saraqeb and blocked the international highway M5, which links Aleppo to Damascus.