(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 17 people, 12 of them from the same family, were killed on Monday in suspected Turkish airstrikes on al-Bab city, the Islamic State’s last stronghold in northern Aleppo province, activists said as Turkey says al-Bab almost taken.
Meanwhile, Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters have largely taken control of al-Bab from Islamic State, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
"Al-Bab has been largely taken under control. Our aim is to prevent the opening of corridors from territories controlled by terrorist organizations to Turkey," he said while speaking to members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.
The Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes, swept into northern Syria in August in an operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" by Ankara, to push Islamic State from Turkey's border and stop the advance of Kurdish fighters.
The rebels have been pressing a major offensive on al-Bab, 30 km (20 miles) south of the Turkish border for weeks. The advance risks putting them in direct conflict with Syrian government forces who are closing in on the city from the south.
President Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish leaders have been saying for weeks that the al-Bab offensive was nearing an end.
ISIS has showed stubborn as the Turkish special forces and Free Syrian Army press so hard to capture the border town. ISIS defeat still not clear yet, Press officer in al-Jabha al-Shamiya group told Zaman al-Wasl.
Meanwhile, Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters have largely taken control of al-Bab from Islamic State, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
"Al-Bab has been largely taken under control. Our aim is to prevent the opening of corridors from territories controlled by terrorist organizations to Turkey," he said while speaking to members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.
The Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes, swept into northern Syria in August in an operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" by Ankara, to push Islamic State from Turkey's border and stop the advance of Kurdish fighters.
The rebels have been pressing a major offensive on al-Bab, 30 km (20 miles) south of the Turkish border for weeks. The advance risks putting them in direct conflict with Syrian government forces who are closing in on the city from the south.
President Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish leaders have been saying for weeks that the al-Bab offensive was nearing an end.
ISIS has showed stubborn as the Turkish special forces and Free Syrian Army press so hard to capture the border town. ISIS defeat still not clear yet, Press officer in al-Jabha al-Shamiya group told Zaman al-Wasl.
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