Turkey early Friday carried out missile attacks on targets in Syria's central Hama, northwestern towns of Nubl and Zahraa, as well as in regime and Russian bastion, Latakia, in response to the Assad regime airstrike that killed 22 Turkish soldiers.

The military also pounded Assad regime targets with artillery along the frontline in Idlib.

Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan convened an emergency meeting over tensions in the war-ravaged Syrian city.

Security sources told Daily Sabah that all ministers and senior officials, including the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Hakan Fidan, were present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Communications released a statement on the Turkish offensive against Syrian regime forces.

It said Turkish forces have neutralized at least 1,709 Assad regime soldiers, as well as 55 tanks, three helicopters, 18 armored vehicles, 29 howitzers, 21 military vehicles, six ammunition depots, seven mortars and four Soviet-made DShK heavy machine guns.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone since then as the cease-fire continues to be violated.

More than 1 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to some intense attacks.