Turkish soldier killed, another missing

A Turkish soldier was killed and another one was missing following cross-border fire from Daesh-held territory in Syria, the army said.

The soldier died of his wounds in hospital following the incident in the border region of Kilis when shots were fired from Daesh-controlled area in Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said in a statement on its website.

"Contact was lost with a comrade during the clashes," the army said of the missing soldier, adding that an operation was underway to find him.

The army did not say who had fired the shots, but Kilis Governor Suleyman Tapsiz had earlier said that a group of smugglers trying to cross from Syria into Turkey had opened fire on the border troops.

Ankara has launched a two-pronged "anti-terror" offensive against jihadists in Syria and Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq after a series of attacks on Turkish soil, including a suicide bombing blamed on Daesh that killed 32 pro-Kurdish activists in the town of Suruc in July.

Turkish tanks opened fire on targets controlled by Daesh jihadists in Syria for the first time in July after two Turkish soldiers were killed in Kilis by shots from the Syrian side of the border.

Turkish warplanes have for the first time joined raids by the US-led coalition against Daesh in Syria after Washington urged Ankara to play a full role in the battle against the jihadists.
Source: AFP