Istanbul: Two more Turkish soldiers have been killed and six wounded in an attack by Syrian government forces in northwest Syria's Idlib region, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Immediately after the Syrian forces opened fire, Turkish forces retaliated and continued to strike targets, the ministry statement said. The incident brought to 59 the death toll, including one on Tuesday, of Turkish forces in their Idlib operation which began last month.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Turkey on Wednesday of failing to meet its obligations under a pact to create a demilitarised zone in Idlib and of helping militants instead.
The RIA news agency quoted a Russian defence ministry spokesman as saying "terrorist" fortifications had merged with Turkish outposts in Idlib, resulting in daily attacks on Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria.
Turkey had amassed troop numbers in Idlib equal to a mechanised division, violating international law, the Russian spokesman said.
Turkish military spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
The Russian accusation came on the eve of a Thursday meeting in Moscow between President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
They are expected to try to de-escalate tensions that have brought Turkey and Russia dangerously close to direct military confrontation.
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