In a statement, Turkey’s military said the militants fired rockets at Turkish tanks during clashes near the border area from where IS was pushed out of on Sunday, immediately killing two and wounding five soldiers.
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Turkish troops launched Operation Euphrates Shield on August 24 – a military operation with the aim of seizing control of the country’s border from ISIS and Kurdish-backed rebel groups.
The President of Turkey has said that Turkish troops are ready to work with the U.S. to push further into Isis territory and take on the group in its Syrian capital, Raqqa.
An operation in Raqqa would entail an expansion of co-operation on Syria between Turkey and the United States, Nato allies whose relations have been strained over policies on Syria.
Canikli also said 110 Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters had been killed since the operation began. Russia, which backs the government in Damascus, said on Wednesday Ankara’s push south threatened Syria’s sovereignty.
Two fighters from the Free Syrian Army were also killed and another two injured in the attack.
Turkey has absorbed some 2.7 million Syrian refugees within its borders since the start of civil war in neighbouring Syria.
Few other details were given by Mr Erdogan but said more discussions would follow.
When asked if ongoing USA cooperation with the Kurds would be a stumbling block, Erdogan said he didn’t consider it to be a problem, pointing to Turkey’s latest operation (Euphrates Shield), which has gone smoothly so far.
At least 250 requests from Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to the liberated Syrian city of Jarabulus have been received by Turkish authorities, a Turkish migration official told Anadolu Agency Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that he and Barack Obama are ready to invade the Islamic State (Isis) de-facto capital of Raqqa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights conflict monitor had reported this was the case as had media close to the YPG itself, which claimed on Wednesday that the Turkish Army opened fire on civilians who tried to help wounded YPG fighters.
“It is not just us but other countries that must train and equip local forces, that must contribute and give direction”, Cavusoglu said.
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Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging an insurgency on Turkish soil, seeking autonomy for Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast region.
