Coalition Strikes Kill 24 Daesh Militants in Northern Syria - Turkish Military

ANKARA (Sputnik) — The US-led coalition aircraft that provide support to Ankara's Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria killed more than 20 Daesh militants, the Turkish General Staff said Thursday.

"The coalition's air forces killed 24 Daesh militants and a building under their control in nine aerial operations. Our armed forces hit 74 Daesh targets with fire from Firtina howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, tanks and mortars. Six soldiers of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) were injured during the fighting. There are no casualties among the Turkish military," Turkey’s General Staff said in a statement, obtained by RIA Novosti.

According to the statement, the FSA forces have failed the day before to advance toward the towns of Azaz and al-Rai, they are still controlling 132 residential areas, while the total area of the northern Syrian territories cleared of the terrorists is 1,100 square kilometers (424 square miles).

The Euphrates Shield operation was launched by Turkey on August 24. Its goal is to eliminate the threat posed by Daesh terrorists, outlawed in Russia and many other countries worldwide, in the Syrian border town of Jarablus and the surrounding area.

According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the operation aims to clean from the terrorist a territory of 5,000 square kilometers and to establish a security zone for refugees.