Five Turkish soldiers killed in Syria in 24 hours

ANKARA

REUTERS photo

Five Turkish soldiers have been killed during the Euphrates Shield Operation in northern Syria over the course of 24 hours, bringing to 17 the total number of Turkish casualties in the operation.

Three soldiers were killed at the scene of the Syrian regime’s airstrike on Turkey’s military quarter in the north of the country on Nov. 24, while a fourth soldier succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.

Meanwhile, another Turkish soldier was killed in northern Syria in clashes with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists, the Turkish Armed Forces said on Nov. 25, in the latest fatality in Ankara’s three month campaign.

Five members of the Turkish Armed Forces and 25 Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters were also injured during clashes. Four Syrian opposition fighters were killed in the incidents in the area on Nov. 24 and early on Nov. 25, according to the statement.

Seventeen Turkish soldiers have been killed since the military began the operation in support of the FSA in northern Syria on Aug. 24.

The Turkish Air Forces have been conducting consecutive airstrikes in northern Syria following the attack on Turkish military positions by the Syrian regime on Nov. 24.

Turkish planes have carried out air strikes against seven ISIL targets in the Barakah, Anifah and Abu Hayj regions of northern Syria, targeting two headquarters, three defense positions and an arsenal controlled by ISIL, the military stated. 

The warplanes destroyed a number of buildings belonging to ISIL, according to the military statement, adding that they returned to their bases after successfully completing their missions.

Some 1,500-3,000 FSA fighters, backed by 300-600 Turkish troops moving from the north and west, are less than one kilometer away from al-Bab.