Things are heating up in Idlib with Turkey going face to face with Russia, as 8 soldiers were killed and 6 were injured by artillery fire from Syrian government troops.

According to reports, Assad’s forces attacked a convoy of the Turkish army which had arrived to back forces in the area fighting with the Syrian army. The Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet reports that on Sunday night, 200 armored vehicles of the Turkish army including tanks crossed the border into Idlib.

Turkish forces fired back and destroyed targets. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at least 40 people from the Syrian government forces had been killed.

Moscow backed Damascus, announcing that the Turkish Armed Forces were attacked by Syrian forces because Russia had not been warned about Ankara’s operations in Idlib, Syria.

According to the TASS news agency, the Russian Defense Ministry denied that Assad regime forces had been attacked, noting that “Turkish Air Force planes did not violate the Syrian border nor were there any recorded attacks”.

Read more: balkaneu