Turkey retaliates after 5 soldiers killed by Syrian shelling

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said it retaliated Monday after heavy shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syria’s northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months.

The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia in 2018. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia heavily backs the Syrian government’s campaign to retake the area, which is the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

A U.N. official said the number of people displaced by the violence since Dec. 1 reached nearly 700,000.

“This could well prove to be the largest number of people displaced in a single period since the Syrian crisis began almost nine years ago,” said U.N. regional spokesman David Swanson, reiterating the call for an immediate truce.

The U.N. “remains deeply alarmed about the safety and protection of over 3 million civilians in Idlib and surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, as reports of air strikes and shellings continue in Syria,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.

At least 49 civilians were killed between Feb. 1-5, with at least 186 civilians killed in January, he said.

Most of the displaced are living in open-air shelters and temporary homes in rain, snow and freezing temperatures near the Turkish border. Half of the displaced are believed to be children.

Food, shelter, water and sanitation, hygiene, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities, Haq said, with the...