Turkish tanks then crossed into northern Syria from the Turkish province of Kilis on Saturday.
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The LCC said Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army rebels captured the village of Tweiran, to the south of al-Rai, from IS on Sunday.
Turkish authorities are also building a wall to boost security along a stretch of its border with Syria, Anadolu reported.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would not allow a “terror corridor” on its southern border. This brings an end to the terrorist group’s presence in the region and also cuts of its supply lines for arms and new fighters.
“Turkey has had this aim since the beginning”, he said in a Friday interview in Istanbul.
“We are there with Euphrates Shield, we are there to protect our border, to provide for our citizens safety of life and property, and to ensure Syria’s integrity”, he added.
Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on August 24, aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces, and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border through FSA fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery, and jets.
Turkish forces backed by Syrian rebels say they have driven Daesh militants out of territory along the Syrian border with Turkey.
Despite several rounds of worldwide negotiations, a solution to the civil war that has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions remains elusive. The Islamic State group claimed twin suicide bombings in the neighboring coastal towns of Tartus and Jableh in May that killed over 160 people. The Observatory said four soldiers were killed.
Ankara fears that advances by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has been one of the most effective partners for the USA coalition fighting IS, will embolden Kurdish militants on its own soil.
Turkey views the People’s Protection Units as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
However, the US sees the YPG militia as an important strategic part of the USA -led anti-IS coalition and has provided them with extensive aid and air strikes.
But the group still holds territory in Syria and Iraq.
Some Kurds have criticised Turkey for its role in Syria.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the US and Russian Federation were struggling to reach a ceasefire agreement on Syria. He called it a “huge contradiction” that “some of our friends” have chosen to back one terrorist group to fight another in Syria.
The offensive continues a full scale Turkish incursion that began 10 days ago. In 12 days of the operation, Turkey’s backed FSA control took almost 600 square kilometers from PYD/PKK and ISIS fighters. “There are no civilians living there anymore”.
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Information for this article was contributed by Bassem Mroue, Zeynep Bilginsoy, Albert Aji, Neyran Elden, Kathleen Hennessey, Josh Lederman, Bradley Klapper and Jim Heintz of The Associated Press; by Nick Wadhams and Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg News; and by Mark Landler of The New York Times.
