Turkey increased its military presence in Syria on Saturday, sending tanks into the Cobanbey district to back opposition fighters combating IS.
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The villages are situated west of the border town of Jarablus, which was retaken by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels last week.
Turkey’s minister of European Union affairs dismisses claims that a cease-fire has been reached with Kurdish rebels in northern Syria.
Ankara’s offensive has alarmed the West, with Washington saying that action aimed at the YPG, part of a US -backed coalition also fighting against Islamic State, risks undermining the broader goal of ridding Syria of the jihadist group.
Turkey disagrees with its ally’s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group.
Western officials have expressed alarm that the fighting between the US allies has diverted their attention from the fight against the Islamic State group.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels seized several villages from Islamic State on Saturday near Turkey’s border with Syria, in further advances against the jihadist group, the insurgents and monitors said.
It regards the YPG as a sister organisation to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency that has left over 40,000 dead since 1984.
The Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council said in a statement Tuesday it had agreed to a cease-fire following consultations with the USA -led coalition. Turkey says the group is an arm of Turkey’s outlawed PKK.
In China, to attend the G20 meeting of world leaders, President Tayyip Erdogan said there should be no support for any terrorist organization – a reference to the United States’ backing of the Syrian Kurdish fighters.
“The Turkish republic is a sovereign, legitimate state”, Celik added.
Ibrahim Kalin told reporters Wednesday that the Kurdish militia will remain a target for Turkey until they move east of the Euphrates River.
As well as driving away Islamic State out of the border area, it is determined to ensure Kurdish forces do not link up two Kurdish-controlled cantons in north Syria – one east of the Euphrates and the other in the west near the Mediterranean.
The officials said Wednesday that Turkish artillery had also fired 107 rounds at 25 “terrorist” targets in the IS-held villages of Zaghrah and Kuliyeh since Tuesday.
USA officials on Tuesday welcomed what appeared to be a pause in fighting between Turkish forces and rival militias, although Ankara denied assertions from Kurdish fighters in Syria that a temporary truce had been agreed.
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The Pentagon earlier said the Turkish forces had in fact moved to the west, while Kurdish forces had moved east of the Euphrates River, in compliance with Turkish and US authorities.
