OREANDA-NEWS. Four soldiers of the Turkish army in the ranks of junior officers died in Syria in an explosion. This was announced on Thursday by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, posting on Twitter photos of the victims. The incident occurred in northern Syria on Wednesday. The military patrolled the highway when a car bomb was blown up next to them.

In October 2019, Ankara launched the source of peace cross-border operation in Syria, east of the Euphrates River. Its goal is to cleanse the territory of terrorist elements and armed groups of the "Self-Defense Forces" of the Syrian Kurds, which are recognized by Turkey as a threat to national security.

The armed conflict in Syria has been going on for more than eight years. The situation escalated in early October, when Turkey announced the start of Operation Source of Peace, directed against Kurdish troops.