Turkish Soldiers Killed in Clashes with Islamic State

Turkey’s Syrian allies comprise diverse factions often plagued by infighting, including the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham and the US -backed al-Mutassem Brigade.

Three were killed at the scene, while the fourth died of his wounds in hospital, Dogan news agency said.

The boom was hear at 23.20 p.m. (2020GMT), the statement said. “It is a painful reminder of the dangers our men and women in uniform face around the world to keep us safe”.

The Islamic State group is ready, erecting a wall around the entire town and its countryside to the south, according to satellite imagery by USA -based firm TerraServer shared by intelligence analyst Roa Komar.

The latest deaths raise to at least 15 the number of Turkish soldiers killed since Turkey began its operation in northern Syria.

Euphrates Shield forces, featuring Turkish soldiers and militiamen from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have been as close as two kilometers from the town of al-Bab for several days, according to FSA commanders, but had refrained from assaulting the center of the town.

They spoke again late yesterday about “Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo”, sources in Erdogan’s office said.Russian Federation is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main military backer.

Twenty-two opposition fighters, who fight the IS in alliance with Turkish forces, showed symptoms of chemical gas exposure in northern Syria’s Khalidiyah region, the Turkish Army’s General Staff said in a statement.

Turkish media said the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey’s AFAD emergencies agency.

Officials say they “suspect” the airstrike was carried out by the Syrian government.

Yildirim also reaffirmed the assessment of Turkey’s military chief, Gen. Hulusi Akar, that the attack was carried out by Syrian government warplanes.

Reports said FSA fighters, backed by Turkish tanks and air strikes, continued attacks to gain control of Al-Bab on Friday.

Do they know who is responsible? The terror group is also sometimes referred to as ISIS and ISIL.

The battle to recapture Al Bab appears to be proving more hard and violent as Dogan news agency reported on Friday evening that five more soldiers were injured after an IS attack.

But Turkey’s priority is the Kurds.

While Kurdish-led forces want to secure the city in order connect the Afrin and Kobane canton administrations, Turkey’s main goal in northern Syrian is to prevent Kurdish contiguity.

The Americans have said they are not taking part in the fight for Al Bab.

Amid a rapprochement with Russia, Turkey has largely been tight-lipped as Assad’s Moscow-backed forces press an offensive to recapture the whole city of Aleppo, which is divided between the government and rebels.