Turkey strikes ISIL targets in Syria’s north

ANKARA

Turkey has killed 40 jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria, hours after rockets from ISIL-controlled spots hit the southeastern Anatolian province of Kilis, the Turkish army said in a written statement on Sept. 22.





The positions where the ISIL fire came from was hit both in 20 air strikes and from the ground with rockets and howitzers, the military said in its statement.



ISIL weapons launching sites in Syria’s Tungali and the vicinity were marked with Antpq-36 radars, it said.

According to the statement, the air strikes targeted ISIL elements in Bahwurtah, Tall Ar, Kadrish, al-Athariyah, Jakka and Idalat regions to the southwest of al-Bab.



One gun position, two buildings and one hand-made explosive belonging to the jihadist group were also destroyed in the air strikes, the military said on the 30th day of the Euphrates Shield Operation, which Turkey launched in order to rid its border with Syria of both ISIL and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).



It also added that Turkish artillery units fired 474 shots along with fire from another 99 multiple rocket launchers at ISIL targets.



In addition, Turkish warplanes also conducted air strikes against five ISIL targets in Shuwayrin, al-Athariyah and Tall Ar, destroying five buildings belonging to ISIL militants.



A second batch of air strikes on ISIL positions in northern Syria were conducted on Sept. 23, one day after rockets hit Kilis.



The military also announced that eight civilians, including six children, were wounded in two separate rocket attacks targeting Kilis on Sept. 22.



The first rocket hit a bazaar area in the Canpolat Paşa neighborhood in the afternoon hours, wounding five children and an adult, Kilis Gov. İsmail Çataklı stated.



The wounded were transferred to Kilis State Hospital and were in stable condition, the governor added.

The second attack came a few hours later, wounding another two.



The first rocket attack caused material damage to a three-story building and a store in the neighborhood.



Meanwhile, six Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters were also injured in an ISIL car bomb attack in the Şamarik neighborhood, according to the statement.

