5 more Turkish soldiers killed in fight for IS-held town

Five more Turkish soldiers were killed Thursday in fighting for the Islamic State (IS) held town of Al-Bab in northern Syria, bringing the army's death toll to 10 over two days, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Ten soldiers were also wounded in the latest fighting between IS jihadists and the Turkish army, which is backing a campaign by Syrian rebels to take the town.

Another five soldiers had already been killed in fighting on Wednesday and 15 more wounded.

One of the soldiers killed on Wednesday, sergeant Mahmut Uslu, was given a full funeral ceremony in Ankara attended by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other Turkish leaders.

Mourners including Yildirim consoled his distraught mother Murside while his comrades bore a picture of the dead soldier, an AFP photographer reported.

Turkey on August 24 began an unprecedented campaign inside Syria against IS and Kurdish militia which initially made rapid progress but has become mired in a deadly fight for Al-Bab since December.

According to Dogan news agency, 66 Turkish soldiers have now been killed in the Syria operation since it began in August, mostly in attacks by IS.

Turkey had on Wednesday claimed significant progress in the battle to capture Al-Bab and signalled it was looking to push to the jihadist stronghold of Raqa in the next stage of the operation.

Yildirim said Al-Bab was now "surrounded on all sides" and the town's outer neighbourhoods were "under control".

Al-Bab has been besieged since Monday, when government forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad advancing from the south cut off a road leading into the town.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu suggested that once Al-Bab was captured Turkey and its allies could send special forces to take Raqa, the de-facto capital for IS to the southwest.

Source: AFP