Turkey: 43 ISIS Fighters, One Turkish Soldier Killed in North Syria Fighting

Turkish Warplanes Destroyed 55 Buildings Around al-Bab

Fighting continues to rage in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab, just east of the city of Aleppo. Turkish officials reported a large number of casualties over the last 24 hours, saying 43 ISIS fighters were “neutralized” and one Turkish soldier was killed in the fighting.

Turkey’s military statement also claimed warplanes attacked and destroyed 55 buildings in the area, all of them being used by ISIS forces. They said 245 other ISIS targets were attacked by rebel forces which are backed by Turkish ground troops in the fighting.

Overall, Turkey said 223 ISIS fighters have been killed in the last week, along with 5 Kurds. It is unclear where the Kurdish fighters were, as there have not been recent reports of Turkey attacking any of the Kurdish YPG targets further to the east.

Turkey invaded northern Syria in late August, vowing to “liberate” the region from both ISIS and the Kurds. They’ve captured much of the northern Aleppo Province, but the push against al-Bab has stalled them to a virtual halt.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.