TEHRAN (Iran News) – A Syrian military source said the Arab country has closed its airspace over northwest Idlib, warning that any aircraft that violates it will be regarded as “hostile” and shot down.
“Any aircraft that breaches the Syrian airspace over Idlib will be dealt with as a hostile aircraft that must be downed and prevented from achieving their hostile goals,” the source said, SANA reported.
The army has taken the measure based on its adherence to “constitutional and national duties in defending the sovereignty of the state and protecting its security and territorial integrity,” it added.
The source also lashed out at Turkish forces for carrying out “hostile acts” against the Syrian armed forces by directly targeting their positions in Idlib and its adjacent areas and providing support to armed terrorist organizations.
“These repeated hostile Turkish acts will not succeed in saving terrorists from the strikes of the Syrian Arab Army and they prove the Turkish regime’s disavowal of all the previous agreements including Sochi memo,” it added.
The decision to shut the airspace came after the Syrian army downed a Turkish drone over the strategic city of Saraqib, which lies on the intersection of the M5 and M4 highways.
Over the past few weeks, tensions have escalated between Ankara and Damascus in Idlib, the only large territory in the hands of terrorists.
The Syrian military has managed to undo militant gains across the Arab country and bring back almost all of the Syrian soil under government control.
- source : Tasnim, Irannews
