One Turkish soldier was martyred and five were wounded on Monday in a rocket and mortar attack by terrorists as the Turkish forces were setting up an observation point in Syria's Idlib province, Turkey's armed forces said on Tuesday.
The statement said the Turkish forces responded with retaliatory fire, without specifying who the terrorists behind the attack were. One civilian member of the Turkish contingent was also wounded, it said.
The army began setting up the outpost on Monday southwest of the Syrian city of Aleppo, the deepest position they have established so far inside northwestern Syria under a deal with Russia and Iran aimed at reducing violence there.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the observation post was near the village of al-Eis, which would place it less than five km (three miles) from territory held by Syrian government forces and their allies.
With its deployed forces, Turkey aims to establish a fourth observation point in the area in accordance with the Astana agreement.
According to the Astana agreement, Turkey is projected to gradually establish 12 observation points, from Idlib's north to south.
During a meeting in Kazakh capital Astana on May 4, the guarantor countries -- Russia, Turkey, and Iran -- signed a deal to establish de-escalation zones in Syria, which included Idlib in northwestern Syria, on the Turkish border.
Turkish troops were tasked with monitoring a cease-fire and establishing a series of observation posts along the line between the Syrian areas of Idlib and Afrin. While the Turkish military has been tasked with establishing observation posts in central Idlib, Russia has been tasked with doing the same in outlying areas.
