24 August 2016•Update: 25 August 2016
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has taken control of Syrian city of Jarabulus Wednesday as part of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield to clear Daesh out from its border region, military sources told Anadolu Agency.
According to Turkish army and FSA commanders, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, the opposition forces managed to take control of the city center near the Turkish border.
During the clashes with Daesh, one FSA member was killed and 10 others injured; no casualties were reported among the Turkish army, the sources said.
Opposition commanders said the clashes had stopped now, but warned against suicide bomb attacks across the city.
The FSA had earlier captured another Daesh-held village of Kaklijah, some three kilometers (1.86 miles) south of the Turkish-Syrian border. Jarabulus is located five kilometers (three miles) away.
Turkish military’s Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria was launched early Wednesday, when artillery and airstrikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target Daesh and the PYD in support of the Free Syrian Army fighters.
The operation is in line with the country’s right to self-defense borne out of international treaties and a mandate given to the Armed Forces by the Turkish parliament in 2014 and extended for another year in September 2015.
Operations by the Turkish army which have been actively fighting Daesh, have significantly contributed to ongoing efforts of the U.S.-backed international coalition against the terror group.
Since January, rocket attacks on the Turkish province of Kilis from Daesh-held territory in Syria have killed at least 21 people, while terrorist attacks in Gaziantep blamed on Daesh include Saturday’s suicide bombing of a wedding that killed 54 and a car bomb attack in May that martyred two police officers.
