One Turkish soldier was killed and three others injured in a clash with Daesh fighters in northern Syria in which 23 militants were “neutralised”, the Turkish military said today in a statement.
The clashes occurred after Daesh tried to move into Ziyara, a town due east of the opposition-controlled town of Al-Rai, leading to a Turkish military response that included artillery barrages against 75 Daesh positions.
Turkey’s military is currently engaged in fighting both Daesh and Kurdish YPG militants it says are the Syrian off-shoot to Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU.
The Turkish-backed military operation in Syria launched last August was dubbed Operation Euphrates Shield, and is designed to clear a section of Turkey’s southern border with neighbouring Syria.
Turkey and its allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) group that stands in opposition to the Assad regime is gradually moving towards Al-Bab, close to the besieged city of Aleppo that is currently enduring a ferocious offensive by Damascus and Moscow.
Separately, Reuters reported that US-led coalition warplanes launched nine airstrikes on Daesh targets in northern Syria, “neutralising” five militants.