Turkish military says 31 Islamic State militants killed in northern Syria

EghtesadOnline: Thirty one Islamic State militants have been killed in clashes and U.S.-led coalition air strikes in northern Syria over the last 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Sunday, marking an escalation in violence in the area.

News ID: ۷۳۷۴۰۲

09 October 2016

Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish tanks and air strikes, have been pushing towards the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Dabiq, a village with symbolic importance to the jihadists, in an operation launched in late August, reports Reuters.

Fourteen of the IS fighters were killed as they attempted to enter the rebel-controlled villages of Akhtarin and Turkmen Bareh, three kilometers (two miles) east of Dabiq, the Turkish army said in a statement.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that IS fighters had captured those villages in a counter attack near the Turkish border.

Another 17 Islamic State fighters were killed in air strikes by coalition warplanes in the same areas, the military said in its daily round-up on the operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield".

It said two Syrian rebels had been killed and 19 wounded in the latest fighting against IS. The operation has also targeted a Kurdish militia whose presence along its border Turkey sees as a threat.