Multiple bomb blasts in Syrian cities kill at least 12

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which maintains a network of contacts in Syria, put the overall death toll at 53, although Syrian state TV said 48 were killed.

The news of ISIL’s losses along the Turkish border came as pro-government Syrian forces again brought rebel-held eastern Aleppo under siege, retaking territory they lost four weeks ago in the south-west of the city.

The advance comes after Turkey launched an operation on August 24 dubbed Euphrates Shield, saying it was targeting both IS but also Syrian Kurdish forces that have been key to driving the jihadists out of other parts of the Syrian-Turkish border.

On Aug. 13, US -backed Syrian rebels, led by the Kurdish militia known as the YPG, took control of Manbij from Islamic State, cutting a major supply route between Raqqa, the extremists’ de facto capital in Syria, and the Turkish border.

Turkey has also said it will not allow Syrian Kurds to unite their “cantons, ” the regions under their control in northern Syria, which have emerged as autonomous zones during the civil war.

A Turkish tank heads to the Syrian border.

The governor of Homs province said a vehicle bomb struck a military checkpoint in the provincial capital, Homs, killing two soldiers and injuring four others, one critically. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Commenting on the expected visit of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Turkey Sept. 8-9, Kuloglu said it is not ruled out that the parties will discuss the possibilities of closing the airspace over the northern Syria.

Turkey is fighting a three-decade-old Kurdish insurgency in its southeast and fears that gains by YPG will embolden militants at home.

Government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday from the rebels after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back.

His statement came as the US embassy in Turkey announced that the USA military has attacked ISIS targets in Syria using mobile rocket launchers it has based on Turkish territory for the first time. However, the YPG is considered to be an effective ally by the United States, in the fight against IS.

Now there are 250,000 civilians living in the areas of Aleppo controlled by terror group ISIS.

The Turkish government also deems the Syrian-Kurdish YPG group a terrorist organisation.

Rebels and Turkish forces are now advancing in two directions, to the east from al-Rai and to the west from Jarablus, to seal the border.

In an emailed press statement, Turkey’s military said the FSA have taken 20 villages from IS, adding that the Turkish army struck 83 Islamic State group targets. The city, Syria’s third largest, is largely under government control, with only one neighborhood still under opposition control.