BEIRUT :- Turkish troops and allied Syrian
opposition forces have managed to capture just one-tenth of a north Syrian town
from Islamic State militants, a conflict monitoring group said Saturday,
despite reaching its outskirts seven weeks ago.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights monitoring group told the AP that nine-tenths of al-Bab remains
under IS control. The Observatory receives its information from a network of
contacts inside the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme National Security
Council authorized Russia to fly its fighters over Iranian airspace to support
operations in Syria, the state's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
In August, Iran confirmed that Russia bombers
launched airstrikes from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175
miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran to hit targets in eastern
Syria. Iran is a stanch supporter of the Syrian government.Battlefield reports
from Syrian opposition forces corroborated the Observatory's al-Bab review.
The Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham militia
announced Saturday on Twitter that opposition forces had taken the city's silos
and sports complex in its southwestern districts. The coalition's operations
room released a video on social media showing its fighters at the gates of the
Hikma hospital. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring
group also reported the hospital's capture.
But these amount to just marginal advances in
the town, where some 100,000 residents lived before the start of the Syrian
civil war, six years ago. Al-Bab lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the
Turkish border. Turkey is leading Syrian
opposition forces in a broad operation called "Euphrates Shield"
against the Islamic State group and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces northern Syria.
Ankara wants to clear groups it says are
terrorists away from its border, while Syrian opposition forces are looking to
secure territory before rival government forces arrive from the south. Turkey
is the opposition's chief backer in Syria's multisided civil war. It has
deployed troops, tanks and artillery inside the country as part of operation
"Euphrates Shield."
Turkey's Anadolu news agency began reporting
Turkish troop fatalities in al-Bab on Dec. 21. That week, 16 Turkish soldiers
were killed in clashes or ambushes by the Islamic State in the town.Turkey's
military announced Saturday the death of another soldier in the fighting in al-Bab.
The death brings the total number of Turkish troops killed in the military
operation in northern Syria to 65.
***The fighting has exacted a civilian toll as
well.***
According to the Observatory, 267 civilians
have been killed by Euphrates Shield artillery and airstrikes on al-Bab and two
satellite villages since Dec. 21. Turkish aircraft have pounded the town as
well. The IS group's Aamaq news agency reported that Turkish, American and
Russian warplanes flew more than 80 sorties over the town on Friday and fired
150 artillery rounds.
The three powers are coordinating their
aerial campaigns against the Islamic State group and other al-Qaida-linked
factions in northern Syria. Pro-government forces, meanwhile, backed by Russian
airpower, are engaged with IS militants in the village of Tadif, about 1.5
kilometers (1 mile) south of al-Bab.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a
statement Saturday that "in the course of the battle in the area of Tadif,
government forces destroyed 650 terrorists, two tanks" and various
vehicles fitted with arms and explosives. The figures could not be
independently confirmed.
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