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Russia bombs Turkey's allies in Syria ahead of Putin-Erdogan summit

Russian jets shelled a camp for the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in Afrin, north of Aleppo, and intensified its airstrikes against the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib ahead of the meeting between the Turkish and Russian presidents on Sept. 29.
Mourners gather by the grave of one of fighters from the pro-Turkish "Hamza Division" Syrian rebel group killed in Russian air raids, at the Muhamadiya camp near Jindayris in the countryside of Aleppo in the Afrin region of northwestern Syria, on Sept. 26, 2021.

Sources affiliated with the Syrian opposition's so-called National Army, formerly known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Al-Monitor that Russian jets launched several air raids on Sept. 26. The raids hit a military base of Al-Hamza Division, a group affiliated with the National Army, in the village of Barad in Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Six members of the National Army were killed and 11 others were wounded. Most of those who were killed hail from the eastern Ghouta area on the outskirts of Damascus.

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