Turkish Army Deploys 180 Soldiers to Key Town in Eastern Aleppo

"Troops from the Turkish Gendarmerie’s ‘Wolves’ battalion, based in the Black Sea province of Tokat, conducted a leaving ceremony before heading to Syria,” the Hurriyet daily reported.

Al-Bab is currently under the control of the Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield forces; it is strategically located in Eastern Aleppo.

While the Turkish Army already has a large presence in Western Aleppo (Dar al-Izzah), the Eastern part of the province is mostly controlled by their proxies, as there is a small presence of Kurdish-led fighters in this area.

A Kurdish media outlet reported last month that the Turkish Army troops crossed the borders of the town of Afrin in Northern Aleppo.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported that the Turkish soldiers crossed Nahr (river) al-Aswad that streams between Bakur Kurdistan and Afrin and crossed the borders of Afrin near the village of Akbas in Raju region.

It said that the army built a bridge over the river to transfer its vehicles in case it comes under attack.

In the meantime, the Turkish forces dug trenches adjacent to the village of Heidarku in Hatay province in Southwestern Turkey.

Hawar news said that the Turkish forces' move was aimed at setting up military positions at border with Raju region to deploy heavy military equipment there.