Turkey hits 80 ISIL targets in Syria: Military

ANKARA

Turkey hit 80 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in northern Syria on Nov. 1 as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, the Turkish army has stated.

Three members of the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) were killed and four others were injured in clashes with ISIL, the Turkish General Staff said in a written statement.

It said the FSA-controlled towns of Aq Burhan, Vash, al-Baruzah, Al-Gharz, Tlatinah in northern Aleppo, and Jabal Khirbat al-Kanisah in southern Akhtarin, were recaptured by ISIL.

Turkey launched the Euphrates Shield operation with the FSA in late August to clear Syria’s northern border area of ISIL and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization due to its links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

However, the Turkish Air Forces were forced to halt airstrikes in support of the operation after the Syrian regime warned that it would shoot down any Turkish warplanes entering Syrian air space. The Turkish Air Forces have been unable to carry out operations in Syrian airspace since Oct. 22, when the country’s air defense systems were activated.