Jarablus is a vital supply line and the last border point that directly connects Isis fighters with Turkey and the outside world, and separates Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria. It was the third mortar round fired from the extremist-ruled town in 24 hours.
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Turkey’s artillery shelled Islamic State (IS) group targets across the border in Syria for the second consecutive day yesterday, a senior Turkish official said, amid reports that Ankara-backed Syrian rebels were preparing an offensive against an IS-held border town in northern Syria.
“It is important that the terror organizations are cleansed from the region”, Cavusolgu said in a joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the promise amid reports Ankara-backed rebels were massing on the border in anticipation of an impending operation against IS.
The minister also said Turkey had killed some 650 IS militants in strikes carried out from a military base in northern Iraq, without providing a time frame.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusolgu pledged “every kind” of support for operations against IS along a 100-kilometer (62-mile) stretch of Syrian frontier, putting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member on track for a confrontation with USA -backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have been the most effective force against IS and who are eyeing the same territory.
It says the cease-fire went into effect at 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) Tuesday. Surveying Syrian social media, Misr24 said that the Kurds had apparently advanced into Hasaka and driven the Syrian army from some districts, including al-Nashwa and Ghuwayran.
The official told AFP that the powerful Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian forces would withdraw from Hasakeh, while the police forces of both the Kurds and the government would remain.
An Ankara official said the Turkish shelling came after mortar rounds, believed to have been fired by the militants from Jarablus, landed on Turkish territory. He declined to comment on whether the SDF would send fighters to the town, but an SDF statement said the Syrian Kurdish force was “prepared to defend the country against any plans for a direct or indirect occupation”.
Turkey is focused on preventing the YPG or its allies building on recent advances against Islamic State by capturing the town of Jarablus. Rebel sources say they have been mobilising in Turkey, ready to cross into Jarablus. No one was hurt by the rockets.
Syrian state media did not mention any withdrawal, saying only that the two sides had agreed to evacuate the wounded and exchange detainees.
Hurriyet reported on its website that Turkey’s military responded by launching 40 rounds, hitting four IS target.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported Turkey has increased security measures at its border opposite Jarablus, deploying tanks and armored personnel carriers.
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Kurdish influence spread further this month when a USA -backed alliance of militias including the YPG captured the city of Manbij from Islamic State, west of the Euphrates.
