Syria, Turkey battle at the border

An airstrike killed at least 33 Turkish soldiers in northwestern Syria on Thursday. The soldiers fought alongside rebels in Idlib province along the border between Turkey and Syria, where the Russian-backed Syrian army is trying to regain control. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held an urgent security meeting, and the country said it retaliated by hitting 200 government targets and “neutralizing” 309 soldiers.

What are the implications of the latest strike? The United Nations warned the risk of escalation “grows by the hour.” Turkey threatened to reopen a migrant route to Europe for more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees unless it received more international support to defend itself. Already, hundreds of refugees started traveling to the Turkish border with Greece to wait for access.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report in Globe Trot on the millions of Syrian refugees affected by the fighting.