Soldier wounded in ISIL attack on Turkish tank in Syria dies

A soldier, who was wounded in an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rocket attack targeting a Turkish tank in Syria, succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 11, marking the eighth Turkish casualty since the launch of the anti-ISIL incursion.

The 25-year old specialized sergeant Akif Güleş was heavily wounded on Sept. 6 when a rocket fired by ISIL militants hit a Turkish tank in the al-Rai region during the Euphrates Shield operation, carried out with the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Three soldiers were immediately killed in the attack.

The injured Güleş was transferred to a hospital in the southern Turkish province of Adana, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 11. 

His body was sent to his hometown in the southeastern province of Adıyaman for a funeral and he was laid to rest on Sept. 12 in the village of Doyran in a funeral ceremony attended by Adıyaman Governor Abdullah Erin, Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies Ahmet Aydın, Adnan Boynukara and Salih Fıra, and Adıyman Mayor Hüsrev Kutlu.

Güleş's death brings the Turkish casualty to eight since the launch of the operation on Aug. 24, with attacks from both ISIL and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Jarablus and al-Rai regions of northern Syria.

On Aug. 27, one soldier was killed and three were injured when YPG militants attacked Turkish tanks.

On Aug. 30, four Turkish soldiers were injured when a rocket fired from the west of Syria's Jarablus region hit a tank in northern Syria. 

Late on Sept. 6, three soldiers were killed and four others, including Güleş, were wounded in another ISIL attack on two tanks.
Photos from Turkey, coalition 'Euphrates Shield' op targeting ISIL in Syria's...