Top Turkish military officials inspect Syrian border

HATAY - Anadolu Agency

Turkey's defense chief and high-level military officials inspected the country's troops on the Syrian border on March. 1.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler and commanders of Turkish Land and Air Forces monitored latest developments along the border, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene.

Lieut. Gen. Sinan Yayla informed Akar about day-long activities of armed unmanned aerial vehicles, multiple rocket launchers and maneuvering elements.

Meanwhile, Turkey continues to destroy regime targets in Syria, Ankara's defense ministry said on Feb. 29.

The Turkish army neutralized more than 2,100 Assad regime targets, the National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

The ministry also shared images of the regime elements neutralized in Idlib, northwestern Syria.

Some social media accounts supporting the Assad regime claimed two regime generals were among those neutralized in Idlib.

Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply that terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Separately, at least 21 Iranian backed terrorists were neutralized in Idlib, according to Iranian news agency Hawzahnews.

Idlib, near Turkey's southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.

On Feb. 26, at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey's southern border.

Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

But more than 1,300 civilians have since been killed in attacks by Assad and Russian forces in the zone, as the cease-fire continues to be violated.