Turkey on Tuesday warned Damascus "not to play with fire" a day after a Turkish military convoy was cut off by an airstrike in northwest Syria. "The regime should not play with fire... As we have previously said, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the security of our soldiers and observation posts," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara. But, he added, "we hope it does not reach that point". The Turkish military convoy of around 50 armored vehicles had entered the Idlib province on Monday heading toward the key town of Khan Sheikhun, where Russian-supported regime forces are fighting to retake the area from jihadists and rebels. The Turkish defense ministry said that an airstrike hit, killing three civilians and wounding 12. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said a Russian airstrike hit a rebel vehicle leading the convoy just outside the town of Maaret Al-Noman, 15 km (nine miles) north of Khan Sheikhun. The strike killed a Turkish-backed fighter from the Faylaq Al-Sham group and two other opposition fighters, the observatory said. The convoy angered Damascus, who accused Ankara of providing support to "terrorists". Cavusoglu said the convoy's "duty was to ensure the safety of a Turkish observation post", adding that Ankara had "no intention to move our ninth observation post". The post is one of 12 in Idlib, the last bastion of jihadist forces, established as part of a Russia-Turkey buffer zone deal to prevent a large-scale offensive in the region. Despite this agreement, the Syrian regime and Russia have increased their attacks in Idlib since late April. Turkish officials were in talks over the incident with their Russian counterparts, Cavusoglu said. Syrian army tightens grip on strategic town Syrian government forces looked set to recover the strategic town of Khan Sheikhoun that has been in rebel hands since 2014 in a major Russian-backed offensive into the opposition's last major stronghold. A pro-Damascus military source said insurgents had withdrawn from Khan Sheikhoun overnight, though the main insurgent group in the area said rebels still held part of the town and fighting continued. Capturing Khan Sheikhoun would be an important gain for President Bashar Al-Assad into the northwestern region where his bid to recover "every inch" of Syria has hit complications including Turkish forces on the ground. Syrian state media, in a broadcast from near the town, reported that government forces had widened their control including by seizing a highway running through Khan Sheikhoun, which was targeted in a sarin gas attack in 2017. The pro-Damascus military source told Reuters the town was under army control after the rebels were caught in a pincer movement and fled. "There are some pockets and explosive devices, there are a few who refuse to withdraw and want to die," the source said. In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham said rebels still held part of Khan Sheikhoun and nearby areas in northern Hama despite what it described as a redeployment in the town after fierce enemy bombardment. The observatory and the pro-Damascus military source said Syrian rebels had withdrawn to a Turkish military position in the town of Morek, to the south of Khan Sheihkoun in Hama province. — Reuters
