The Idlib Turkey Shoot: The Destruction and Capture of Vehicles and Equipment by Turkish and Rebel Forces

By Stijn Mitzer in collaboration with Calibre Obscura

Turkish air and ground strikes which commenced late on the 27th of February 2020 on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SyAA) and affiliated forces hit a large number of targets throughout Idlib and Aleppo, leading to the complete collapse of government forces along this part of the frontline and allowing rebel forces to continue their advance after recapturing the strategic town of Saraqib. Launched in retaliation after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike, Turkey has now entered a new phase in its war in Syria, and at present the long-term implications can only be guessed at.

To purposely strike a Turkish military position only to get completely annihilated in retaliatory strikes raises the issue of whether the current organisation in charge of regime operations is capable of dealing with the situation it faces. The catastrophic outcome of the regime's (and Russia's) attempt at directly challenging Turkey's resolve must have not only amazed those following the offensive, but also the regime's military itself. Completely misjudging the impending danger and incapable of properly anticipating Turkey's retaliatory strikes, the Syrian military totally collapsed in the face of drones and artillery. Instead of engaging or at least deterring Turkish aircraft and drones from freely striking government forces on the ground, the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) and Syrian Arab Air Defence Force (SyAADF) have so far done nothing to stop the Turkish Air Force from penetrating into Syrian airspace.

What is certain is that for rebel forces Turkey's new phase could not have come at a better time. As the tide of the war is now in favour of the regime, rebel forces lost theoffensive posture many groups managed to cling on to for much of the war. With rebel forces in Idlib everywhere on the defensive and losing, Idlib has largely been cut off from the largest supplier of weaponry and ammunition to factions opposing the Syrian government: The Syrian Arab Army. The latter's failure to redistribute, protect, or at least destroy major arms depots like Ayyash ensured a seemingly endless supply of vehicles, weaponry and ammunition to opposing forces in Syria. Nowadays mostly relying on small batches of munitions purchased on the black market or received from foreign powers, the only way for rebels in Idlib to stock up on heavier equipment like tanks is through smash and grab attacks on poorly defended but overstocked regime positions and now, a Turkish-backed offensive launched against the city of Saraqib.

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles, weaponry and ammunition and can be seen below.

This list only includes captured vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed by Turkey and captured by Idlibi rebel forces is undoubtedly higher than recorded here. Small arms and munitions are currently not included in this list, but will be added after the release of Calibre Obscura's list tomorrow.

This list will be updated as additional footage becomes available.

(Click on the numbers to get a picture of each individual captured or destroyed vehicle)

Tanks (35, of which destroyed: 22)

•  6 T-55A: (1, captured)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)
•  2 T-55M: (1, captured)(2, captured)
•  4 T-62 Obr. 1972: (1, captured)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)
•  2 T-62M: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)
•  1 T-72 'Ural': (1, destroyed)
•  1 T-72M: (1, captured) 
•  5 T-72M1: (1, captured)(2, captured)(3, captured)(4, captured)(5, captured)
•  1 T-72M1 'Shafrah': (1, captured)
•  1 T-72AV: (1, captured)
•  5 Unknown T-72: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed) 
•  7 Unknown T-55/62 (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)(7, destroyed)

 

Infantry fighting vehicles (19, of which destroyed: 7)

• 19 BMP-1: (1, captured)(2, captured)(3, captured)(4, captured)(5, captured)(6, captured)(7, captured)(8, captured)(9, captured)(10, captured)(11 and 12, captured)(13, destroyed)(14, destroyed)(15, destroyed)(16, destroyed)(17, destroyed)(18, destroyed)(19, destroyed)

 

Self-propelled artillery (20, of which destroyed: 20)

•  13 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)(7, destroyed)(8, destroyed)(9, destroyed)(10, destroyed)(11, destroyed)(12, destroyed)(13, destroyed) 
•  2 130mm M-46 on truck chassis: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)
•  5 152mm 2S3 Akatsiya: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)

 

Multiple rocket launchers (9, of which destroyed: 9)

•  8 122mm BM-21: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)(7, destroyed)(8, destroyed)
•  1 122mm MRL on Toyota: (1, destroyed)

Mortars (3, of which destroyed: 1)

•  2 160mm M160: (1, captured)(2, captured)
•  1 240mm M240: (1, destroyed)

 

(Self-propelled) anti-aircraft guns (3, of which destroyed: 1)

•  2 23mm ZSU-23: (1, damaged)(2, destroyed)
•  1 23mm ZU-23: (1, captured)

 

Surface-to-air missile systems (2, of which destroyed: 2)

•  1 Pantsir-S1: (1, reported to have been destroyed at Kweres or Abu ad-Duhor)
•  1 Buk-M2 (1, reported to have been destroyed at Kweres or Abu ad-Duhor)

 

Aircraft and Helicopters (10, of which destroyed: 10)

•  2 Su-24MK2s (downed on the 1st of March 2020)
•  5 Mi-8/17s (1, 2, 3, reported to have been destroyed at Kweres and Abu ad-Duhor, 4 and 5 shot down by MANPADS on the 11th and 14th of Feburary respectively)
•  3 MBB 223 Flamingos (Hit in a hangar at Kweres. Likely already derelict and used as a source of spare parts)

Trucks, vehicles and engineering equipment (28, of which destroyed: 17)

•  1 GAZ-66: (1, destroyed)
•  7 GAZ-3308:(1, captured)(2, captured)(3, captured)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)(7, destroyed) 
•  1 Ural-4320: (1, destroyed)
•  1 KamAZ: (1, destroyed) 
•  1 Ammunition truck: (1, destroyed)
•  5 Truck carrying equipment: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed) 
•  3 Technical: (1, captured)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed) 
•  2 Excevators: (1 and 2, captured)
•  2 Motor bikes: (1 and 2, captured)
•  5 Unknown truck: (1, captured)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4 and 5, destroyed)

 Strategic locations hit

•  As-Safira Defense Factories and Research Center
•  Kweres airbase
•  Artillery munitions stockpile

Anti-tank guided missiles (35, of which 10 launchers and optics)

•  1 9M14 Malyutka: (1)
•  3 HJ-73D: (1, 2, and 3)
•  2 thermal optic for HJ-73D launcher: (1 and 2)
•  3 9M111 Fagot: (1, 2, and 3)
•  9 9M113 Konkurs: (1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 6)(7, 8 and 9) 
•  2 9P135 launcher for the 9M111 Fagot and 9M113 Konkurs ATGM: (1)(2) 
•  2 1PN79-2 thermal optic for the 9P135 ATGM launcher: (1)(2)
•  12 9M131 Metis: (1, 2, 3 and 4)(5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10)(11 and 12)
•  2 9P151 launcher for the 9M131 Metis ATGM: (1)(2)
•  1 1PN86-VI thermal optic for Metis ATGM launcher: (1)(2)
•  2 9M133-1 Kornet: (1 and 2)

Special thanks to Morant Mathieu, MENA_Conflict, Jakub Janovsky and Monitoring.

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