Turkey dispatches 180 commandos to Syria's Al-Bab

ANKARA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Turkey dispatched 180 commandos to the Syrian city of Al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish military stated.

Troops from the Turkish Gendarmerie's "Wolves" battalion held a leaving ceremony at the base of the Black Sea province of Tokat before heading to Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The commandos' expected role in Al-Bab has not been revealed, though the deployment comes more than a month after Turkish troops entered Syria's Idlib province under the framework of establishing de-escalation zones.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey was conducting a "serious operation" with the Free Syrian Army as part of the de-escalation deal.

The operation in Idlib is the second time in over a year that the Turkish military has crossed into Syria. The first, Operation Euphrates Shield, was launched on Aug. 24, 2016, during which the military captured several Islamic State strongholds. Enditem