IDLIB, Syria — A group that goes by the name Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade claimed responsibility for an attack on a Turkish army post in the western countryside of Aleppo on Jan. 16.

The group published a statement on social media, saying that it had targeted, with thermal snipers, one of the “main Turkish army bases” stationed in the village of Batbu, in western Aleppo, on the evening of Jan. 16. According to the statement, three Turkish soldiers were injured in the operation.

The group had first emerged in September 2020 and identified itself as independent and not affiliated with any faction or organization. It claimed responsibility at the time for an attack on a military post of the Turkish army in the village of Salat al-Zohour in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughur in the northwestern countryside of Idlib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that on Jan. 3, an explosion near the city of Maarat Misrin took place where rocket-propelled grenades were fired by unknown persons at a Turkish vehicle while it was passing by the village of Kafraya, in northern Idlib, without information about casualties, noting that the security forces of the Syrian opposition factions and the Turkish forces cordoned off the area.