Northern al-Bab offensive

Some 19 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have been neutralized as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces announced on Jan. 10.

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.

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 four Turkish soldiers and more than 45 jihadists were killed in fighting on Dec. 21. 

Some 217 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets were hit on Dec. 18 in northern Syria as part of the Euphrates Shield Operation, the Turkish Armed Forces has announced.      

A total of 25 Islamic State Iraq and Levant (ISIL) millitants were "neutralized" in northern Syria as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish military said on Dec.17. 

The Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement that 206 ISIL targets were destroyed.

The targets included defensive positions, as well as command-and-control facilities, the statement added.

Preparations for a final operation by Turkey-backed rebels on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-controlled city of al-Bab in northern Syria are underway, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said after a cabinet meeting Ankara on Dec. 12. 

Nearly 1,000 ditches and a large number of improvised explosives and mines left by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in al-Bab have decelerated the entry of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) into the city in northern Syria as part of the Euphrates Shield Operation, which started in late August, according to Turkish security forces.

Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters have largely seized control of al-Bab-Manbij highway as a part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces stated on Dec. 9.

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).