Al-Bab

Two Turkish soldiers who were wounded in northern Syria during the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield succumbed to their injuries on Dec. 27 in Ankara, Doğan News Agency has reported. 

The soldiers, who had been wounded in Syria's al-Bab province and previously transferred to Kilis, succumbed to their wounds at the Gülhane Training and Research Hospital in Ankara.

Manbij is Turkey's first priority as part of its Euphrates Shield Operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, adding that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) capital, Raqqa, would be the second target if Turkey and the United States can agree. 

Turkey's Defense Minister Fikri Işık on Dec. 23 said he had information that three Turkish soldiers were abducted by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in northern Syria but added that other "comments" beyond this information were not confirmed.

Clashes between Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants intensified in the central parts of Syria's al-Bab, where 14 Turkish soldiers and 138 jihadists were killed in fighting on Dec. 21. 

Clashes between Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants intensified in the central parts of Syria's al-Bab, where four Turkish soldiers and more than 45 jihadists were killed in fighting on Dec. 21. 

The Turkish army and its allies entered the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) bastion of al-Bab in northern Syria on Dec. 10, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"They entered al-Bab from the northwest after violent clashes with the jihadists as Turkish artillery bombarded the town," the observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said, according to AFP.

The military operation launched by Turkey in Syria's north against terror groups in the region has slowed down after reaching a key town held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Connection with two soldiers deployed in Syria as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation has been lost, the Turkish Armed Forces announced late on Nov. 29, while the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which Turkish forces are combatting in northern Syria, claimed responsibility for the abduction of the two soldiers.

Connection with two soldiers deployed in Syria as a part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation has been lost, the Turkish Armed Forces announced late on Nov. 29.

The military stated that contact with the soldiers was lost at around 3:30 p.m. 

It also added that search works to find the missing soldiers have been ongoing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that an airstrike on Turkish soldiers near al-Bab in Syria was not carried out by Russian aircraft, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmuş said on Nov. 28.