Alalam - Middle East

Turkish warplanes staged 7 airstrikes in Syria near the ISIS-held town of Al Bab which its supported rebel fighting to capture the flashpoint city. In a statement released on Friday morning, the Turkish Army confirmed another of its soldiers had been killed near al-Bab during fighting with ISIS.

Since operation so-called "Euphrates Shield" began in late August, at least 17 Turkish soldiers have been killed and dozens wounded. In addition, an estimated 30 Turkish armored vehicles have been destroyed due to clashes with ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Yesterday, Ankara accused the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) of carrying out a deadly airstrike on its troops, killing three soldiers and wounding others. A fourth died overnight due to injuries from the air raid, a Turkish military official said. Syria rejects allegations.

However, an exclusive "Al-Masdar News" source later denied that the SyAAF had been operational in the area, suggesting the incident to be a false flag operation by Turkey.

Since operation Euphrates Shield began, the pro-Ankara rebels have captured the ISIS stronghold of Jarablus, cleared ISIS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance from ISIS. In total, 218 villages and towns have been captured from ISIS and the SDF in the past three months.

SDF or Syrian Democratic Forces including Kurdish YPG and Syrian Arabs with Kurdish majority begun offensive against ISIS in this year. Although SDF is supporting from US and Western countries, Turkey President Erdogan refer to SDF as terrorist and is fearful of them closing to Turkey border. As a result invaded Syria in the name of ISIS but with the aim of pushing back Kurdish forces and capturing theirs liberated land from ISIS.

Now, Syrian rebels - heavily supported by the Turkish Armed Forces - hope to dislodge ISIS militants from the city of al-Bab. Yesterday, rebel forces seized two villages east of the Islamic State bastion.

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