With intermittent rocket fire straying across the border into the refugee camps in southern Turkey, Turkish officials are touting a major score in a revenge attack on ISIS “ground targets” in northern Syria, claiming to have killed 55 ISIS fighters in Aleppo Province.
Turkish officials say that they attacked stationary rocket launching sites as well as mobile ISIS forces, destroying multiple vehicles. Officials have said they intend to be more aggressive in the coming days against cross-border ISIS strikes.
In addition to the artillery barrages against northern Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has cautioned the nation is prepared to send ground troops into Syria “if necessary” to fight against ISIS, and other reports suggest Turkey has requested more NATO support for border defense.
Early in the Syrian Civil War, Turkey was a primary avenue for Islamist factions to smuggle weapons and fighters across the border, which ultimately left almost the whole of northern Syria out of government control. Eventually, however, ISIS turned on Turkey,. and has proven a far less hospitable neighbor than Turkish officials initially hoped.
