Turkish army hits ISIL targets in Syria, says 104 militants killed

KİLİS

Turkish military hit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in northern Syria after six rockets fired by ISIL targeted a Turkish border town and two military posts, the General Staff said in a statement on May 28.

Five people were injured on May 27 when rockets fired from ISIL-controlled territory in northern Syria hit Turkey’s border province of Kilis, 20 days after the last such attack by the jihadist group targeting the province.

Three Katyusha rockets fired from the Bab region of Syria hit the Hürriyet neighborhood in the Elbeyli district of Kilis around 6 p.m. on May 27. The projectile hit the wall of a house and exploded, injuring five locals.

Two more rockets were fired early on May 28, with one hitting the garden of Gaziantep Airport's public housing unit. No injuries were reported.

The Turkish General Staff said in a written statement that the ISIL position were hit by 233 howitzers, 40 multiple rocket launcher systems and four tanks.

“Starting from five minutes after the attack, the ISIL positions have been hit multiple times, including 11 sorties by [U.S.-led anti-ISIL] coalition jets,” the statement read. 

According to the statement, 104 ISIL militiants were killed in the retaliation, while four multiple rocket launchers, one howitzer, one mortar position and seven buildings used as headquarters by the ISIL were destroyed.

Rocket attacks from the ISIL-controlled Bab region have claimed the lives of 21 people, including eight Syrians, in Kilis since January.