Russia reinforces Syrian area where Turkey-backed SNA clashed with “SDF”
(Monitor)
Additional units of the Russian military police arrived in Ain Issa in northern Syria “to step up efforts to stabilise the situation,” the Russian defence ministry has said.
Russia has sent more military police to an area in northern Syria where Syrian National Army (SNA) backed by Turkey have clashed with the “SDF” near a strategic highway patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops.
The deployment comes ahead of talks in southern Russia on Tuesday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Syria, where Moscow and Ankara have backed opposing sides but often work in conjuction, is one of the topics the two diplomats will discuss.
Battles between Turkey-backed SNA fighters and members of the “SDF” broke out near the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria earlier this month.
Ain Issa sits along the M4 highway that links major Syrian cities and where Russian-Turkish patrols usually take place.
Turkish forces and Syrian National Army seized territory in the region in an offensive last year against the “SDF” which holds swathes of north and east Syria.
