According to local media reports, the military used heavy vehicles in with the participation and coverage of fighter jets and helicopters, and they were carried out near the lines of contact with the Turkish forces and the local armed militias sponsored by them in this region.

Aircraft from the United States-led International Coalition launched warning balloons so that Syrian and Russian fighters did not approach their military bases in the nearby locations in Hasakeh.

The Syrian army sent large military reinforcements including tanks, reactive and conventional artillery, logistics teams and soldiers to the front lines under the cover of the Russian aviation.

Russia also increased the presence of its aviation at the Qamishli airport in the extreme northeast of Syria, and is conducting maneuvers and air patrols in the towns of Tal Tamr in Hasakeh, Tal Abyad in the north of Raqa, and al-Bab and Tadef in northern Aleppo.

According to analysts, both the maneuvers and the growing Russian military activity in this area send a deterrent message to Ankara, who announced its intention to launch a new military operation in northern Syria.

Local media claimed that the commanders of radical groups operating under the umbrella of the so-called “National Liberation Army” received orders from Turkish officials to be on high alert to launch military operations at any time.

pgh/llp/jha/fm