Several Syrian soldiers killed in clashes in Idlib

Twenty-one soldiers of the Syrian government and forces loyal to Damascus were killed in fighting in the country’s last rebel-held province of Idlib on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

SOHR documented fatalities among the ranks of the warring parties in Monday’s clashes and shelling on both the eastern and southern countryside of Idlib.

"21 regime members and loyalists were killed in both countryside," SOHR said.

Clashes in Idlib, where Turkey maintains troops and a dozen observation posts as part of a September 2018 agreement with Russia, risks turning into all-out conflict.

Sixteen Turkish military personnel have been killed in shelling by Syrian government forces this month in Idlib, and Turkey bombarded dozens of Syrian army targets in retaliation and has been sending large numbers of reinforcements into the region.